Life Before the War
by daughterofBarricade
Summary: Helen didn't want to get married yet. Menelaus didn't even think he had a chance to win the most beautiful woman in Greece. But the fates work in mysterious ways. First they'll give you something good, only to yank it away from you.*A set up before the Trojan war. Set in the abody and Sherman film universe, but no appearences by peabody or sherman, only Greek characters
1. The Lucky Straw

**A/N: Okay here's my new fanfic project, yes I know I have a lot of other fics to worry about (and I say that a lot), but this one is gonna be based on Greek Mythology, which is right up my alley. **

**Now mind you, while I have this listed under the ' and Sherman' crossover, I would like to make it clear that neither Mr. Peabody nor Sherman will be making an appearance in this fic. The only reason why I have it in this section is because I'm basing the characters on the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film. For example, Odysseus will be short and chubby (and not too bright), while Agamemnon will look and act (hopefully I can get his character right) just like he did in the film, and so on and so forth. **

**Now as you noticed, I crossed the fic over with Greek Mythology as that is what I'm gonna focus on. So I'm gonna **_**sort of**_** follow the mythology stories, but note that there **_**will **_**be some changes along the way. Some of the changes will be small and some will be big, and some of the changes will be VERY big. (Kinda like how Disney 'adjusted' the Greek myths to make their Hercules movie and TV series)**

**Alright, with all that being said, here is the first chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not really sure how to do this…I guess the characters belong to Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I am making absolutely NO money off this fic. **

**And one last thing, when you see this, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~name~~~~~~~~~~~~, that signals a scene change. **

The Lucky Straw

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most would agree that watching your father being murdered and then being forced into exile for several years, was a terrifying thing.

They would also agree that having to spend six years training and planning to kill your own uncle and finally committing said act is one of the most difficult and stressful things someone could do.

For Menelaus however, all that seemed like nothing compared to what he was doing at this moment. Sure it was traumatizing to see his dad get brutally murdered and having to run away with his older brother to avoid the same grizzly end, wasn't the best thing a ten and a twelve year old should go through.

Yet as crazy as it sounds, Menelaus would rather face his murderous relatives again than be here competing with forty four other men for the hand of young, Spartan princess, Helen. In fact, it wasn't even his idea to be here in the first place.

It was Agamemnon's doing. _He_ was the one who insisted that Menelaus should go and try his luck at winning Helen.

Under any other occasion, Menelaus would have challenged his brother and retorted with 'why don't _you_ try to win her?', but that would have been a stupid question as Agamemnon was already married to Clytemnestra, and the two were busy expecting their first (technically second) baby.

Menelaus held back a shiver at that thought. He honestly didn't trust Clytemnestra and he often wondered what his older brother saw in her. Sure she was fairly attractive and all, but the foul attitude she would develop whenever things didn't go her way made Menelaus wonder if she was some sort of harpy or gorgon in disguise.

With this theory in mind, it was no wonder why the younger prince was so hesitant in coming to Sparta. He had not heard much about Helen, nor had he ever seen her, but if she was anything like her spoiled sister, then he would be better off loosing. And just by looking around, Menelaus could already tell that he was out of his league.

Most of the men were older than him, some only by a few years, while others by a decade…or more. Only a few were teens younger than him, and the small remaining handful were around the age of eighteen like him. None the less, it seemed that the older men were stronger than him while the ones around his age looked as if they could easily match him in strength. That being said, it would be quite difficult to prove himself worthy in a physical challenge. To make matters worse, it didn't help that he was also one of the shorter males in the group.

Even his _hair and eye_ color seemed to stack the odds against him. Menelaus could hear the snickers from the other men as they commented on his dark blond hair and grey eyes, labeling him as the 'oddball' of the suitors.

It was odd how this world worked. If a woman had light colored hair or colorful eyes, it was the most attractive thing in the world, but if a _man_ had these looks, then they are considered 'weird' or 'unmanly'.

Running a hand through his dirty blond hair, Menelaus glanced over at King Tyndareus, who was busy walking around greeting the many suitors. A young woman stood beside him, greeting the various other kings and princes with what looked like a forced smile. It only took a few seconds for Menelaus to figure out that this young woman was the reason why he and every other suitor were gathered here today.

Standing beside King Tyndareus, was none other than Princess Helen of Sparta.

Menelaus blinked in amazement at the young beauty. There was no doubt that she was probably one of the most beautiful women in Greece, second only to Aphrodite.

'That would explain why so many men of royalty responded to Tyndareus' invitation.' Menelaus mused before standing up straight. The Spartan king was gracefully making his way towards the blond prince of Mycenae with his daughter trailing close behind.

"Menelaus my boy!" The king greeted cheerfully as he patted the teenager on the back.

Menelaus smiled and nodded to the ruler respectfully, "King Tyndareus." He replied.

Tyndareus placed a hand on Helen's back. "As you may have already heard, this is my daughter, and the princess of Troy, Helen." He then placed his other hand on Menelaus' back, "Helen, this is Prince Menelaus of Mycenae." He introduced.

The two young royals nodded at each other with small smiles on their faces.

Menelaus decided to take this moment to check out Helen, and boy was she prettier up close! She was a slim, petite teenager around the age of fifteen or so, and had wavy, blond hair that went down just past her shoulders. The most stunning aspect of the princess was her blue eyes, which stared back into his light grey ones.

Menelaus swallowed the lump in his throat before finally forcing himself to greet her, "It's a pleasure to meet you Princess Helen."

Helen's smile grew ever so slightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you too Prince Menelaus."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tyndareus 'POV'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyndareus beamed. Helen had been introduced to many of the men that had come seeking her hand in marriage, but Menelaus was the first and only man that had received a genuine smile and a greeting that didn't seem forced.

Naturally, the old king took this as a sign that his younger daughter was interested in the light haired boy, and had the circumstances of the two meeting been different, Tyndareus would have offered Helen to Menelaus then and there. However, due to the fact that the suitors consisted of powerful kings and princes, flat out choosing one suitor out of the rest, could result in _unwanted_ consequences. Threats could be made, treaties and alliances could be broken, or even _wars_ could break out!

Tyndareus pursed his lips. With those types of risks, it would be better to stick with his original plan of holding a contest to see who would win Helen. Who knows, perhaps Menelaus would be the winner.

'Speaking of contest…where is Odysseus?' Tyndareus thought while looking around the crowd. The young King of Ithaca had assured him that he would think of a fair contest to see who would win the Spartan princess' hand.

He finally spotted the short king standing a small distance away from the other suitors, talking to Penelope. King Tyndareus frowned, wondering what his niece was doing with what was supposed to be Helen's suitor.

Turning back to his daughter, he gave an apologetic smile in Menelaus' direction, "I'm sorry to cut into your conversation, but Helen and I must be going." He looked down at Helen, "Come Helen, there is something I must discuss with Odysseus." With that, they bid Menelaus good bye, and made their way to where Helen's cousin was busy sharing a conversation with the Ithacan king.

'I really hope he hasn't wasted all this time goofing off!' Tyndareus thought worriedly. He was counting on the little shrimp to provide a good challenge for the suitors. True Odysseus didn't seem like the smartest King in Greece, but there were times when his hidden intelligence would shine through, and he would think up of pretty clever ideas.

As he neared the duo, Tyndareus noticed that Odysseus was holding a bunch of hay straws in his hand.

Clearing his throat, Tyndareus managed to get the attention of his niece and Odysseus. Upon seeing her uncle and cousin, Penelope blushed and backed away from what was supposed to be _Helen's _suitor. Tyndareus paid her no mind, and instead looked down at Odysseus.

"Have you thought of a solution to help decide who Helen shall marry?" He inquired politely. Helen cringed. It scared her to know that by the end of the day, she would be promised to one of these strangers that she knew nothing about.

To her horror, Odysseus gave a huge grin and nodded enthusiastically before holding up his hand that held the hay straws.

"We'll draw straws!" Odysseus announced proudly.

Tyndareus and Helen shared a look. 'Oh gods, _please_ tell me he's joking!' Helen prayed, while casting her father a pleading gaze. Her hopes were shattered when she saw the thoughtful expression on her dad's face. 'Are you kidding me?! He's actually considering on going through with this?!' Helen panicked. This couldn't be happening! As her father had made it clear that he wouldn't be accepting gifts from the suitors, Helen had thought that some sort of actual challenge would be made to test the suitors strength or intellect. She had honestly thought there would be a footrace or a fight or _something_ that would be more dignifying than a game of luck! Her father might as well close his eyes and randomly point out into the crowd of suitors and see who the 'lucky' man that would get to marry Helen.

Tyndareus, however, thought this could be a quick and easy way to choose a suitor, if only there wasn't this one problem…

"What if the other men get upset over their loss? That will definitely start a conflict, which is exactly what I _want_ to avoid!" The king questioned, but Odysseus had already thought of a solution to that problem.

"We'll have them take an oath! Before we draw the straws, the men will have to promise to support whoever the winner is, and they have to promise to protect Helen and her husband if and when the time comes." Odysseus crossed his arms with a proud, satisfied look. Helen and Penelope looked at Tyndareus, who was stroking his beard in thought. "Yes…that could work. Alright it's settled!" he motioned over a servant.

"Gather the suitors and have them stand in a line. Odysseus found a way to choose a suitor." The king instructed. The servant nodded and quickly made his way around the room, repeating what his king had told him.

Tyndareus motioned his daughter and niece over to the other side of the room to wait for the drawing to start. Penelope stood on one side of Tyndareus, while Helen stood on the other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helen looked down the newly formed line; her light blue eyes regarded the various men. On the far left side stood Prince Ajax, or as some call him, 'Ajax the Great' or 'Greater Ajax' or 'Telemonian Ajax'. Besides him stood his half-brother Teucer, who was just as arrogant as his half sibling. Helen fought the urge to frown when she noticed the two men giving her hungry, lustful looks.

Tearing her gaze away from the brothers, she continued to observe the rest of the royal men. Most of them were watching Odysseus and the servant in wonder, while a few others regarded her in return.

Thinking back to numerous men her father introduced her to that day, Helen was able to recall the names of several of them. There was Menesthus, Protesilaus, Agapenor, Diomedes, Leonteus, Meges, Ascalaphus, Odysseus (of course), Peneleos, Idomeneus, Thoas, and at the end of the line at the far right was none other than Menelaus.

Out of the forty plus men that had arrived to seek her hand in marriage, Menelaus seemed to be the only decent man that didn't give her looks that could make her shiver. Instead, he had regarded her politely, and though he did give her the ol' 'up and down' look over that many of the men had openly given her while she was greeting them, Menelaus' eyes didn't remain on her chest or lower region.

'He's probably the only one I wouldn't mind marrying.' Helen thought as she allowed her eyes to look over the grey eye, dirty blond haired prince. Unlike the majority of the suitors, Menelaus stood only a few inches taller than her, and if she recalled, he was only three years older than her, so while he wasn't the youngest, he certainly wasn't the oldest. Another thing Helen noticed about Menelaus was the fact that he wasn't too skinny and scrawny like some of the younger men, and he wasn't incredibly over weight like the older kings. He was husky, yes, but she assumed that some of it was muscle and not just fat, and Helen had to admit that she was relieved that he didn't tower over her like some of the 'giants' in the room. 'And at least he's not shorter than me.' She thought while glancing over at Odysseus.

She didn't have anything against short men, but she never actually fancied herself being the wife of a short husband. Not that it mattered; Penelope seemed to have her eyes on Odysseus for herself.

"Helen I think they're about to start!" Penelope whispered around Tyndareus.

Helen blinked out of her stupor and sent her attention over to where Odysseus was standing in front of the long line of suitors, who were all staring at him in wonder.

'Good-bye freedom and hello strange husband.' Helen thought miserably.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Menelaus watched as Odysseus practically skipped so that he was standing in front of the line, a huge grin on his round face.

Menelaus furrowed his brow when he noticed the hay straws in Odysseus' hand. 'Okay then…' he thought as Odysseus cleared his throat, catching the remaining Kings' and Princes' attention.

"Alright, since King Tyndareus couldn't think of a good challenge to decide which one of us would marry Helen," Odysseus started while Tyndareus gave a small face palm when Odysseus mentioned his small plight, and Odysseus continued, "I was asked to think of a way to find out who would be the one that gets to keep Helen."

Helen flinched at the wording.

Odysseus held up the hand that held the straws, "So after lots of thinking-"

"I'll bet it took a lot of thinking!" Ascalaphus snickered to Leonteus, who gave a soft chuckle in agreement. Odysseus didn't seem to hear them as he continued,

"I decided that we should draw straws to see who the winner is!" He looked at the assembled suitors and beamed.

Everyone, including Menelaus gawked. 'Is he serious? _This_ is how Tyndareus is going to choose a husband?' Menelaus thought while casting a glance at the rest of the suitors. Judging by their reactions, they didn't look too happy about this way of choosing.

"You've _got_ to be joking!" Ajax the greater, announced, while the rest of the men nodded in agreement.

Sensing that an argument was about to breakout, Tyndareus quickly stepped forward, hands raised in defense, "Easy now…I know this isn't the best way to do things, but I do believe it is the easiest and fastest way to do it." He assured desperately, now having second thoughts on this whole 'drawing of the straws' thing.

Odysseus stepped around Tyndareus and added, "I think this would be better than if King Tyndareus were to just pick someone out of random. At least this way everybody has a shot."

Menelaus raised his brows. 'For a dunce, Odysseus actually has good logic…sometimes.' He mused as the rest of the suitors began to settle down as they though over what the shrimpy king just said.

Seeing that everyone was now calm, Odysseus pressed on, "Now, before we start picking straws, everyone has to promise that no matter who the husband is, we all have to agree to help and protect Helen and her husband when and if the time comes." He pointed to Ajax, "Promise? And no crossed fingers!"

Ajax rolled his eyes but grumbled out a quick "Yeah, sure, I promise."

After that, Odysseus went down the line, pointing at each suitor and giving a quick "Promise?" and would only move on when the King or prince in question agreed to the oath.

Diomedes leaned down to Menelaus and whispered, "Why can't Odysseus be this smart _all _the time?"

Menelaus snickered, "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this is his personal record. I'm guessing he'll be back to his old self by tomorrow." Diomedes gave a soft laugh before straitening up, just as Odysseus made it to the end of the line and got to last two men's' 'promise'.

Odysseus nodded in satisfaction and held up the straws again, "Okay, here I have the straws; all except two of them are long. That means two of us will get a short straw, then after that there will be a round two where the two with the short straws will have to draw again and whoever of the two gets the shorter straw, wins."

"How do we know which straws are the short ones? Are we going to compare sizes at the end?" Ajax questioned once more.

Odysseus shook his head, "No we'll know which ones the shortest. It'll be pretty obvious; the short straws are half the size of the long ones. Also, if no one gets a short straw, then we'll have a rematch. If only one person get a short straw in the first round, then that person will be the winner." He rubbed his hands together in an attempt to mix up the straws, so that the other men wouldn't accuse him of knowing which straw was the winning one. "I'll go first!" he announced before picking out a straw. A relieved look crossed his face,

"Mine is long. I loose!" he exclaimed a bit too cheerfully while tossing the straw behind his back.

'Well that's one down.' Menelaus thought while crossing his arms. He watched as Odysseus moved to the other end of the line to start with Ajax the greater.

Ajax eyed the straws for a few seconds before tentatively pulling out one of the straws. Automatically, all signs of doubt disappeared when he saw the straw he pulled.

Short.

The first short straw had been drawn!

The rest of the suitors all shifted uneasily. Menelaus ran a hand through his hair. 'Being the last one in line, there is _no way_ I'm going to get the other short straw.' He thought with a shake of his head. In his opinion, he might as well go home.

Looking down the line, he saw Odysseus moving to the other suitors, and watched as man after man picked out a long straw, only for them to groan in defeat and disappointment. Ajax stood off to the side waiting for the other 'winner', his eyes glinting every time one of the suitors drew out a losing straw.

After painstakingly long wait, Odysseus finally arrived to Menelaus. The dark-blond haired prince stared down at remaining straws and gulped. Letting out a deep breath, Menelaus raised a hand and pulled out one of the straws, and felt his jaw drop slightly in shock. Everyone seemed to have the same reaction as well.

Odysseus however, grinned at Menelaus, "Hey, you got the second short straw!" he exclaimed.

Menelaus caught a glimpse at Ajax who didn't look too pleased that he still had to compete against someone for Helen's hand.

Odysseus quickly plucked the straw out of Menelaus' hand before pushing him towards Ajax, who was glaring daggers at the slightly younger man. Odysseus took the straw from Ajax and tossed it away and then mixed Menelaus' with a smaller bunch of straws before holding them out.

"Whoever gets the short straw gets to marry Helen. If both of you draw a long one, then we'll have a rematch until someone wins. Ready? Ajax you go first since you got the first short one." Odysseus explained while holding his hand out to the greater Ajax.

Ajax studied the bunch, his eyes hard and focused. He finally reached in and pulled out a straw, only to growl of displeasure. He had pulled out a long straw. Unless Menelaus drew a long one as well, Ajax just may have lost the drawing.

Odysseus moved his hand over to Menelaus and stared up at him expectantly.

Menelaus could feel his heart pound in anticipation, and he could definitely feel sweat forming on his brow. He hated being put on the spot like this. Taking a deep breath and raised to his to hover over Odysseus'. Licking his lips, he closed his eyes and slowly lowered his hand and pulled out his straw.

The sounds of soft gasps made him crack open one eye, only for both of them to snap open in complete awe.

In his hand, was the short straw.

Menelaus had won the draw!

"Menelaus wins!" Odysseus announced to Tyndareus, who was beaming in approval.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helen couldn't believe it…the one man she was somewhat okay with marrying, was the one that had actually won this game of luck. What were the odds of that happening?

Castor and Pollux, who had been lurking in a corner in an attempt to stay away from the numerous suitors, walked on either side of their stunned sister and leaned closer to her.

"Well sis, it looks like you got matched up with another blondie." Pollux joked while putting an arm around his little sisters' shoulder. Helen rolled her eyes and shook off his arm. She really didn't need her brothers teasing her at a time like this. It was bad enough she would now have to marry Menelaus, whom she knew close to nothing about, she didn't need to be made fun of right now.

Castor punched his twin in the arm, "Knock it off Pollux, this is serious!" he hissed with a glare. He looked down at Helen and placed his hands on her shoulders. "But seriously Helen; if that guy hurts you in _any_ way…you let us know and well take care of him for you." Pollux nodded, his face somber.

Helen smiled up at her elder brothers. They may be goofballs most of the time, but when the time came, they could be the most over protective brothers around. They had proven it when Helen was kidnapped by Theseus at the tender age of seven, and it seemed that they will be willing to do so again.

"Thanks I'll keep that in mind." She replied with a nod.

Tyndareus appeared in front of Helen, and led her to Menelaus, who looked just as nervous as her. Her father however, either didn't notice or didn't care. Instead, he placed his hands on Helen and Menelaus' shoulders and addressed the assembled crowd of rejected suitors, servants and family members.

"Now that it has been decided who Helen will marry, I would also like to add that not only will their marriage mark them as husband and wife, but they will also become the new King and Queen of Sparta!" The older king announced happily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Menelaus' eyes widened when he heard his soon-to-be father-in-laws' declaration.

Had he known that he also ran a chance at becoming a king so soon, he would have resisted his brothers urging to come to Sparta harder.

He wasn't ready to become a _King_! He wasn't even ready to become a husband, and the thought of becoming a _father_ terrified him! If anything, he had hoped to put off tying the knot and having kids for another few years, and he had always told himself that if he _were_ to start a family, it would be with a woman that he had met on his own and fallen in love and married in his own time.

He glanced over at Helen…his future wife, and sighed.

It was official, next time he saw Agamemnon, he was _really_ gonna let him have it for getting him in this situation.

**End Chapter 1**

**Okay, I have **_**no**__**idea**_** how Helen really looked. Most film and TV series she is in depict her as a blond, so that's what I'm basing her on and I added the blue eyes myself…I'm not sure what color her eyes are in other movies. Regardless, this is the way I picture her and I'm sticking to it. Besides, I **_**did**_** say there would be changes. :)**

**I'm also aware that some sources say that Menelaus was a red head, but in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film, it looks like he had dirty blond hair, so I just went with that. As for the eye color, I can't get a good view on them, so I just went with grey. **

**Note: I honestly don't know what Ancient Greeks thought of people, particularly men, with light colored hair and colored eyes. Obviously in films and myths there are Greeks with black, brown, blond and red hair and they don't seem to have a problem with it, so…I don't know. I personally love all hair colors and don't think that one particular color makes a guy 'less manly', but for the sake of this fic, let's just pretend the Greeks do. *Update!* Apparently, ancient Greeks really liked light colored hair, and even went as far as to dye it blonde. But like I said, for the sake of this fic…**

**Myth fun 'facts': **

**~Helen's Suitors- Depending on which version you hear/read, is how many suitors Helen had. Pseudo Apollodorus listed 31 suitors, Hesiod listed 11, and Hyginus listed 36 bringing it to a total of 45 different names. Some of the names were mentioned by one, two or all three of the story tellers, hence why there are only 45 names instead of 78. Here are the names. **

**From Pseudo, Hesiod and Hyginus: Ajax (the greater), Elephenor, Menelaus, Menestheus, Odysseus, and Protesilaus**

**From Pseudo and Hyginus: Agapenor, Ajax (the lesser), Amphimachus, Antilochus, Ascalaphus, Diomedes, Eumelus, Eurypylus, Leonteus, Machaon, Meges, Patroclus, Peneleos, Philoctetes, Podalirius, Polypoetes, Polyxenus, Sthenelus, Thalpius**

**From Pseudo and Hesiod: Amphilochus**

**From Hesiod and Hyginus: Idomeneus**

**From only Hesiod: Alcmaeon, Lycomedes, Podarces**

**From only Hyginus: Ancaeus, Blanirus, Clytius, Meriones, Nireus, Phemius, Phidippus, Prothous, Thoas, Tlepolemus**

**From only Pseudo: Epistrophus, Ialmenus, Leitus, Schedius, Teucer. **

**(For more info, check out the 'Helen of Troy' Wikipedia page)**

**Obviously I didn't choose just one source, I used all of them.:)**

**~Choosing a suitor: According to several of the myth sources, the suitors really did have to draw straws to see who would win. In this story, I had Menelaus present, but in the myths, he never actually went, and instead, sent Agamemnon to represent him. **

**~Yes as I hinted, Helen is fifteen, which was around the age young women in Ancient Greece were married off. (Though some were married off at an even younger age!)**

**~Most men married in their 30's, but I made Menelaus 18 in this fic. (I'll have him grow older at the story goes on as well as in the sequel). **

**~In Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Agamemnon mentions that his father was –Spoiler alert!- a minotaur, but in the actual myths, his father was Atreus, who as far as I know, was a human. Also, in the myths, Agamemnon was the older (?) brother of Menelaus, hence the reason why I'm making them brothers in this fic. **

**Closing Notes: As you may have noticed (those of you that have seen the Mr. Peabody movie) I changed Ajax's personality. In the film he –spoiler alert!- was a nice guy who just wanted to be in the Greek Chorus instead of the army, but here I had him as a cocky guy, who's a bit of a jerk. **

**Anywho, let me know what y'all thing of this so far. I've got chapter 2 about half way done and I already have a prequel in mind as well as a couple of sequels all planned out, I just have to type them out. :)**

**Also, let me know if I should keep this in the Mr. Peabody crossover category, or if I should move it to the 'Greek Mythology' category and leave a note that it basically takes place in the 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman' universe, or whatever. Thanks! **


	2. The Wedding: Day 1- The Proaulia

**A/N: Yay, I got a review and a follower! :D **

**To the guest that left me that nice review: Thank you so much, and I'm glad you like the story so far! Seeing that review not only made my day, but also gave me the confidence to continue posting new chapters for this story. :-)**

**To be honest, I was worried that I may have upset some people by mentioning that while this story takes place in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman universe, I was only focusing on certain characters and everyone's favorite main characters weren't going to make any appearance. As a result, I was actually planning on taking this story down, BUT, if there really is a couple of people out there that have taken an interest in this story, then I'll go ahead and keep it posted and update it as much as I can. :-)**

**So here is chapter 2 for those that were waiting for it. **

**Now a reminder: This story only takes place in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film universe. However, said main characters do not make an appearance in this story. This fic focuses primarily on Greek Mythology. The reason why I have this story in the MPaS section is because I'm basing Agamemnon, Menelaus and some of the other Greeks on the way they look in the film. **

**Important note!: This story is going to include several appearances of the Greek Gods/Goddesses. As such, there is going to be a **_**slight**_** crossover with Disney Hercules in which I'm borrowing the movie/shows' version of the deities. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mr. Peabody and Sherman, nor am I the founder of Greek Mythology. Also, **

The Marriage of the New King and Queen

**Day 1**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the gathering of the suitors, in which Menelaus won the straw game, things in Sparta got a bit hectic in preparation for the upcoming wedding…as well as the coronation in which her parents would leave the thrones to Helen and Menelaus. Tyndareus even admitted that he and Leda, Helens' mother, were planning on moving out and leaving the Spartan palace for Helen and Menelaus.

"We've been thinking of going to Kalamata. We figured it would be far enough out of your way, but close enough if you need anything." Tyndareus assured when he first told his daughter the news.

This news didn't put Helen at ease at all. If anything, it just reminded her that she would be stuck in a home alone with her husband completely at his mercy…

A chill ran up her spine at that thought.

The soft sound of a throat clearing caught her attention, and she turned to see Aethra standing at her room entrance.

"Your mother wants to know if you are ready to discard your childhood possessions." She reported.

Helen regarded the piles of 'children' clothing and her old toys on her bed with a downtrodden look. As part of the pre-wedding rituals, Helen was instructed to burn all of her childhood belongs as a sacrifice and an attempt to get a blessing from the gods, particularly Artemis.

Slowly walking to the bed, Helen picked her favorite doll and held it close to her chest as her eyes began to water. She couldn't do this. It was too much too soon, especially since the arrangement only occurred a short week ago. 'Why couldn't they wait until winter to do this? Why does everyone insist that we had to get married at the earliest full moon?' she thought miserably.

Sensing Helens distress, Aethra approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Princess Helen?"

Helen looked up at her servant and quickly wiped her tears before reluctantly nodding. She then picked one of the empty sacks that lay beside her old stuff, and began to stuff her clothes and toys into it, while Aethra grabbed another sack, and began to help the young bride.

"It'll be okay Helen." Aethra comforted once they were done. She nodded at the doorway, and several other servants entered the room and hauled the sacks away. Once they were gone, Leda strutted in and looked down at her daughter.

"Come Helen. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can commence with the rest of the wedding preparations." She announced coldly before curtly turning and leaving the room.

Aethra placed a gentle hand on Helens' back and calmly led her out of the palace and into the courtyard, where a large fire was already raging.

Walking up to the fire, Helen took a shaky breath and grabbed the first sack. After a moment of hesitating, she threw it into the fire and watched as the flames quickly engulfed it. She grabbed the next sack and did the same, and repeated the process until they were all gone.

Once Helen's belongings were burned, her mother brought her a small knife and carefully sliced off a lock of Helen's hair as another offering to Artemis. According to Leda, it was so that Artemis could help Helen as she made her passage from virginity…or something along those lines. Helen really didn't understand it, she thought it would be enough to get rid of all her childhood things, but apparently Artemis needed some virgin hair too.

After this was done, Helen was ushered back onto her home where the rest of the wedding preparations would be done.

As she was led back to her room, so that she could rest up for the following day, Helen saw that the servants had already finished cleaning up the banquet hall from the pre wedding feast that occurred earlier that day, and were now fixing it up for tomorrow's events.

Just thinking about the following day made Helen's heart pound in anticipation, and she was grateful to finally be in her own bedroom where she could, spend one last night as a single, childless woman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Penelope~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Penelope had been watching her cousin for practically the entire day. To say that Helen was just a _little_ nervous was like saying that Ares had a _slight_ fascination for war. It was one of the biggest understatements.

Helen was nowhere near ready to get married, but there was nothing that could be done. She was no different than the thousands of other young girls that were put in an arranged marriage, and the only thing she could do was just accept it. However, Penelope had to admit that Helen was pretty lucky to be matched up with someone only a few years older than her and she didn't get stuck with someone in their thirties or forties like some of the other young women did.

Another benefit to Helen marrying Menelaus was the fact that he was actually an alright guy. Penelope had managed to talk to him for a few moments at dinner, and found him very pleasant. He wasn't rude or obnoxious like some of the other suitors she had seen not too long ago when Tyndareus was trying to choose a suitable husband for Helen.

In Penelope's opinion, Menelaus seemed like a really good match for beautiful, timid Helen, and Penelope had no doubt that within time, Helen would open up to Menelaus. Perhaps in the future she and Menelaus could look back at how nervous she was and how much Menelaus blushed when they made their offering to Aphrodite for a luscious, baby-making life.

However, Penelope didn't doubt that Aphrodite would have a problem helping the two conceive a baby or two, giving that she _did_ help Menelaus win the drawing of the straws.

Penelope gave a soft smile at the memory. While no one else seemed to see her, Penelope was _sure_ she saw a tall, pink goddess with long blond hair standing behind Menelaus. She was also _positive_ that while Menelaus had his eyes closed and was about to pick out his final straw, that the goddess gently grabbed his hand (though this seemed to go unnoticed by Menelaus and everyone else) and guide it so that it picked out the winning straw.

After witnessing that, Penelope was sure that Helen and Menelaus would be happy together. After all, they _were_ matched up by the love goddess herself.

Watching Helen enter her room, Penelope smiled. 'Don't worry Helen," she thought to herself, 'Lady Aphrodite knows what she's doing.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You do know I blame you for this!" Menelaus whined as he fell back onto the bed of his temporary room.

Agamemnon furrowed his brow, "How is it _my_ fault?"

"You made me come compete with all the other suitors! I didn't _want_ to come, but you kept pushing me to, and _now_ look where I'm at!" The blond prince glared at his older brother. Agamemnon put his hands up defensively, "Take it easy bro."

Menelaus sat up and his glare intensified, "No, no, no, don't tell me to 'take it easy' alright? You may have been fine with getting married and becoming a dad at eighteen, but I'm _not_! Okay?" By now he was on his feet and had begun pacing the room, "I'm _not_ ready to become a husband. I'm _not _ready to become a king. And I am really, truly, honestly _not_ ready to become a dad! Not yet…" he sat back down on the bed and dropped his head in his hands.

Agamemnon watched his brother for a moment, and once he was sure that the rant was over, he cautiously approached his younger brother and sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his brothers shoulder. "Look, there's nothing you can do about the wedding or becoming king. You're just gonna have to suck it up." He paused before continuing, "But if you're really that scared of having kids, then hold off on it for a while."

"I barley even know her." Menelaus mumbled through his hands.

Agamemnon was going to point out how he barley even knew Clytemnestra when he first knocked her up and married her (in that order), but then wisely decided against it…a rare wise move on his part. Instead, he settled for just trying to comfort his brother, "Seriously Menelaus, it's not that bad! You two will be _fine_, and besides, you'll be the _king_ , so no one can really pressure you to become a dad right away."

Menelaus gave Agamemnon an unimpressed look, "They may not flat out say 'hurry up and knock up your queen already!', but they _will_ keep hinting it. Agamemnon shrugged.

"Well it's none of their business when you two have kids. You and Helen do it when you're good and ready, and if it bothers everyone so much, then too bad! Let it bother them!" As he spoke, Agamemnon's volume got louder until it was practically a yell. A bad habit of when he got too excited. Menelaus glanced at the door before shushing his brother.

"Bro, keep your voice down, someone will hear you!" he hissed.

Agamemnon flinched, "Sorry!"

A knock on the door caught their attention and Menelaus gave Agamemnon an 'I told you so' look. Getting up, the future king made his way to the door and found one of Agamemnon's servants standing just outside the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but Queen Clytemnestra is wondering if King Agamemnon is ready to join her in retiring for the night." The servant reported.

Agamemnon, who had already made his way to the door, squeezed his way around Menelaus. "Yeah, I'm coming already." He turned back to his brother, "Sorry bro, but the Mrs. needs me and I best not keep her waiting. I'll see you tomorrow lover boy!"

Menelaus watched him leave for a moment before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

'Zeus _please_ give me strength for tomorrow!' he prayed before going back into his room and attempt to get at least _some_ sleep.

After all, it was going to be a _long_ day tomorrow.

**End Chapter 2**

**A/N: In ancient Greece, most weddings took place over a course of three days. The first day included the burning of the girls childhood possessions and a feast. The second day included the bride taking a ceremonial bath (with or without the groom) as well as the actual marriage as well as another feast and if I'm correct it was also the day the bride moves into her new husbands house and that night they copulate the marriage. And I think the third day is when the new couple get wedding presents…or something…**

**I know in Sparta, the wedding thing was different than other places in Greece, but in this story, I guess I'll have Helen and Menelaus be an exception. **

**In Sparta, the wedding lasted one day (if I'm correct) and in their tradition, women had their hair cut short and were dressed in men's clothing. They were then instructed to sit in a dark room and wait for their husbands and they would then consummate their marriage then. However, (if I'm correct about this as well) a woman can avoid marriage if she wins a wrestling match against her would-be husband. **

**I'm not sure if kings and queens of Sparta had to do this, so I just had Menelaus and Helen do the usual one that went on around Greece. **

**Anywho, I'll have the wedding part 2 and 3 up soon. I was going to post everything as one chapter, but then I figured it would work better as separate chapters. :-)**


	3. The Wedding: Day 2- The Gamos

**A/N: Woo! Two chapters in one day! I'm working on Day three which should be posted later today. **

**Now a reminder: This story only takes place in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film universe. However, said main characters do not make an appearance in this story. This fic focuses primarily on Greek Mythology. The reason why I have this story in the MPaS section is because I'm basing Agamemnon, Menelaus and some of the other Greeks on the way they look in the film.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mr. Peabody and Sherman, nor am I the founder of Greek Mythology. **

The Wedding

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**Day 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Helen? Helen, _wake up_!"

Helen's eyes blinked open to reveal two sleepy, blue orbs. "What? What is it?" she asked groggily as she sat up and rubbed one of her eyes with a balled fist. When her eyes finally adjusted, Helen found herself starting at a large, round belly. Looking up, she saw Clytemnestra looming over her with her arms crossed.

"Mother asked me to wake you. It's time for your nuptial bath." She informed while motioning to the other side of Helen's room where a tub had been brought in, and a child was pouring in the water from a loutrophoros.

Strong anxiety griped Helen. Morpheus had done such a good job in helping Helen fall and stay asleep, that she, as crazy as it sounds, had totally forgotten that she was due to be married.

Staring at the bath, Helen gulped. Though she was only fifteen, she knew what this bath symbolized…purity and fertility. 'Why must everything revolve around fertility?' Helen mused as she crawled out of bed and made her way to take her bath.

She motioned the present child to turn around so not to see her while she undressed. Stealing a look back at her sister, she was relieved to see that Clytemnestra was busy setting up the wedding cloths and not looking in her direction. Nodding in satisfaction she quickly disrobed and settled herself into the insanely, cold bath water. Once she was completely in, she crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. The water was freezing!

"Is everything alright Helen?" Clytemnestra inquired from across the room.

"Purification is so _cold_!" Came the complaint.

"If you would have woken up sooner, the water might have been a bit warmer!"

Helen scowled at her sisters reply and instead began washing her body and hair as quickly as she could. After about ten minutes of bathing, Helen turned to the child and asked for her towel, which was swiftly handed to her, and she wasted no time climbing out of the tub and drying off.

Once she was done, she looked over at her sister. "I'm done." She announced.

Clytemnestra bounded over as fast as she could with her pregnant belly, and led Helen over to where her bridal clothes were lain out on her bed. Helen looked over her wedding chiton. It was mostly white with bits of purple here and there. Her usual sandals lay besides it, along with a yellow wedding veil and the special belt that would be tied around her waist and would only be taken off tonight while she and Menelaus were alone in his room.

"Well come on Helen, let's get you dressed." Clytemnestra ordered.

Helen quickly dropped her towel and swiftly pulled on her chiton in which Clytemnestra helped tie her belt in the bridal knot while the child, who stuck around after Helen took her bath, helped put on Helen's sandals.

"Fetch Helen her arm cuffs." Clytemnestra instructed. The young girl nodded and ran to retrieve a small box from the table and brought it over to Helen.

Helen thanked the girl and opened the box to reveal two golden arm cuffs. Taking them out, she slid them on one at a time so that each one rested snuggly on her upper arms.

Once that was done, Clytemnestra sat Helen down on a stool and began working on her hair.

"I know some women like to go all out on their hair, but I always figured why bother if you're heads gonna be covered most of the time and your new…_husband_…is going to mess up your hair tonight anyway. That being said, don't expect anything fancy." She explained as she brushed through Helen's waves.

'Gods _please_ make everyone stop with the baby making stuff already!' Helen begged silently before answering her sister, "Alright Clytemnestra. Do whatever you have to do." She sighed. In the end, Clytemnestra settled with leaving most of Helen's hair loose, only tying back a small section.

Leda walked in just as her older daughter finished and gave a rare, genuine smile at her younger daughter. "You're almost ready." She whispered before making her way over to the bed and picking up the light yellow veil and settling it on Helen's head. "There." she said.

Helen looked up at her mother through the veil, "Mom…I'm scared…"

"I know you are, but I promise everything is going to be alright." Leda soothed before lifting the veil and ran a hand along her daughter's cheek. "Now, the feast is going to begin in a couple of hours. Stay here until I come for you." With that, Leda left the room with Clytemnestra and the servant girl close behind.

As soon as they left, Helen dropped back down on her bed, overcome by so many emotions. She had said it before and she'll say it again. There was _no way_ she could go through with this. It was too terrifying to go through with, and she would rather avoid the whole thing. Sitting up, she carefully took off her wedding veil and glanced around the room in thought.

Would the gods get upset if she were to say…skip her own wedding all together? Had any Greek woman ever done that on their wedding day? Surely she wasn't the only one to have these thoughts.

Standing up, Helen strolled over to her window and looked down, only to groan in disappointment, she swiftly made her way to the door and peaked out, only to have the same reaction before closing the door with a loud click.

Well there goes that plan. There were way too many guards, servants, relatives and guests wondering around the halls and the courtyard for her to sneak out of the palace. "I should have known that wouldn't have worked." She mumbled while lying back down on her bed, where she would spend the next few hours trying to mentally prepare for the wedding.

Unfortunately, time seemed to fly by as before Helen knew it, the dreaded knock on her door caused her to sit up and stare at it in fear. After a second, her mother entered the room and promptly made her way to Helen, "Helen put your veil back on, the wedding is about to start!" She helped her daughter put the covering back on and pulled her to her feet. "Quickly, Menelaus is waiting for you!"

The two women jogged down the hall towards the banquet hall. "I can't believe you fell asleep!" Leda panted as they ran.

"I didn't know I feel asleep!" Helen replied while turning a corner.

"Well at least you'll be well rested for the rest of the day." Leda stated before stopping in front of the banquet doors. She and Helen took a moment to catch their breath.

Leda was the first to straighten up, "Are you ready?"

Helen shook her head, "No…"

Leda ignored her and gave a nod before pushing the doors open and leading her daughter into the room.

Automatically, everyone turned to see the young bride walk into the hall. Though no one could see it, thanks to the veil, Helen was blushing like crazy from all the attention she was receiving. Her blush intensified when she caught sight of Menelaus standing at the front of the hall.

Her groom was wearing a typical white chiton with a white himation over it. On his forearms, he wore silver wrist cuffs, and on his face was the warmest smile she had ever received from a man, though she could see the nervousness in his eyes as well.

It was nice to know she wasn't the only one terrified of this whole ordeal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Menelaus swallowed the lump in his throat when he caught sight of his bride. He couldn't exactly see his soon-to-be wife's face, but seeing those blue eyes through the veil made his heart pound in anticipation. He still couldn't believe this was really happening, never did he think he would be marrying the so called 'most beautiful woman in Greece'.

'And to think, this was all because of pure luck.' He thought as he gave his almost wife a warming smile, though his grey eyes probably displayed intense fear.

Tyndareus approached his daughter and led her to where Menelaus was standing.

Menelaus could feel himself start to sweat as he looked down at Helen's covered face. Tyndareus cleared his throat and began the engyesis.

"Menelaus, I give you this girl, that she may bring children into the world within the bond of wedlock." He started. Menelaus took a shaky breath and replied,

"I accept her."

"I agree to provide a dowry, my kingdom, with her."

"I accept that too… with pleasure."

Tyndareus grinned, "Then behold your new wife! Look at her!"

Menelaus raised his shaking hands and lifted the veil up over Helen's head and met her stunning blue eyes, which were staring up into his grey ones. Tyndareus placed a hand on the newly wedded couple and turned them to face the audience.

"Behold! The new husband and wife, and new King and Queen of Sparta!" He announced as the crowd cheered.

Once everyone settled down, the wedding feast began. Menelaus and Helen sat beside each other, neither of them really saying anything. Not that it really mattered as the music was a bit loud anyway. Then there was the fact that they spent most of their time conversing in small talk with the various guest that come by to congratulate them on their marriage and wish them luck in having many sons.

The young couple could do nothing more than to thank the guests for their complements.

It wasn't until towards the end that Helen's older twin brothers, Castor and Pollux pulled Menelaus away to have a private brother-in-law 'conversation'.

Once they were out of hearing range and out of view from the guests, the two boys pushed Menelaus up against the wall and scowled at him.

"We don't care if you're the new king _or_ our own brother-in-law, so we're going to give you a fair warning _right now_." Castor hissed while Pollux nodded and added, "We care a lot about Helen, and we know that she wasn't ready for any of this, _especially_ the 'activity' that's about to go on between you and her in your bedroom in a few moments."

Menelaus shifted under the two boys gaze, "I noticed and just so you know, I didn't want this either."

Castor nodded, "That may be, but just know that if you _ever_ hurt our sister in _any_ way, you'll have _us_ to deal with."

Pollux added, "And in regards to what's about to happen, if at any point it seems like you're hurting her, or if she asks you to stop, you _better_ stop. Are we clear?" He jabbed a finger into Menelaus' chest as he and his brother glared down at the new king.

"Crystal." Menelaus nodded nervously.

This seemed to satisfy the twins as they gave a single nod before straightening up. "Good. Now come on, it's nearly time for you and Helen to head over to your bedroom." Castor scowled at the thought while Pollux led them back to the hall just in time to see Helen leave with several other women close behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Helen was busy trying to control her rapid breathing, but to no avail. The moment she had been dreading was about to arrive. In a few short moments, she would be alone and at the mercy of her new husband…forced to please him and hopefully bear him a son.

"It feels weird not doing an actual procession like we did for Clytemnestra's wedding." Helen's younger sister, Timandra, mused as they walked to Menelaus' temporary room.

Philonoe, Helen's older sister that had been granted permission from Artemis to attend Helen's wedding, replied, "That's because this is technically Helen and Menelaus' home now. Instead of her moving in with him, he's moving in with her." She shrugged. She was sure glad she had managed to join Artemis' hunt before her parents could marry her off. Too bad two of her sisters didn't manage to get away in time. Perhaps her two youngest sisters would have better luck.

After a few more moments of walking in silence, they finally arrived at Menelaus' room and stopped just outside the door.

"Phoebe, did you bring the apple like I asked you too?" Leda questioned as she looked down at a young girl.

"Yes mama, I have it right here!" Phoebe held it up for her mother to see.

"Very good, hand it to your sister."

Phoebe bounced up to Helen and held the shiny, red apple up to her older sister. "Here you go Helen!" she chirped, completely unaware of the reason _why_ Helen was supposed to eat the fruit.

Helen sighed and took the fruit, "Thank you Phoebe." Staring down at the apple, Helen took a bite. It didn't take her long to finish, thanks to everyone watching her eat and making her uncomfortable.

Leda took the apple core and opened the door to Menelaus' room. "Wait in here until your husband arrives. Timandra, go and inform Menelaus that Helen is ready for him." She instructed before closing the door and leaving Helen inside.

Once the door clicked, Helen began breathing very fast again, and she had to place a hand on her chest to calm herself down. Eventually, she settled for sitting at the edge of the bed and waited for her husband to arrive, all the while she rung her hands fretfully.

'Oh gods, oh gods, _oh gods_, _I can't do this_!' she thought frantically. She had heard that a womans' first time was painful and that sometimes men had a hard time holding back once they got started.

Would Menelaus be like that? He seemed like an okay guy, but still…would he be rough with her?

And what about the miserable pregnancy or the extremely painful birth she had heard so much about? Was he going to help her through all that, or would he just step aside and let her go through it on her own? And what if the baby turned out 'imperfect' or was a girl? Would he order to have it die?

So many questions and scenarios ran through Helen's mind and she was so lost in thought that she had lost track of time, and she almost fainted from fright when the door slowly began to open.

Her blue eyes widened slightly when she saw Menelaus enter the room, and close the door. Her breath caught in her throat when he took a few slow steps towards her, and she instinctively leaned back in a desperate attempt to get further away from.

However, he didn't come closer, much to Helen's confusion and relief.

Instead, Menelaus stood a few feet away from the bed staring at her in thought, as if planning his next move.

Finally he began to approach her once more and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. Helen's heart raced when he lowered himself so that he was lying on his back, staring up at her. He then patted the area next to him.

"Lay with me Helen." He instructed calmly.

Not wanting to upset her husband, Helen slowly lowered herself down onto the bed next to him and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the inevitable moment when he would roll over and mount her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was terrified, he could see it in her eyes and in the way she sat so stiffly on the bed. Seeing her like this made Menelaus make up his mind.

There was _no way_ he was going to force her to do something she wasn't ready for. Not tonight. Instead, he was going to wait until _she_ was ready, even if it took days, or weeks, or months…or even _years_. He didn't mind, he could wait as well. In the meantime, perhaps they could at least get to know each other since they didn't have a chance to do so before the wedding.

With this in mind, Menelaus made his way over to his bed, laid on his back and stared up at Helen. When she didn't move, he patted spot next to him, inviting her to lie besides him.

Helen did so reluctantly and stared up at the ceiling, trembling ever so slightly.

"Well this has been a pretty long day, huh?" Menelaus mused while putting his arms under his head. He smiled when Helen turned to him with a surprised look, completely caught off guard by his question.

"Um…yeah it was really long…" Helen replied softly.

Menelaus took a steady breath, "If I had been able to, I would have declined the marriage proposal. In fact I didn't even want to compete with the rest of the suitors." He assured.

Helen gave a soft chuckled and shook her head, "The marriage would have happened anyway. Had you not come or even if you lost the drawing, there were still forty four other men that had a chance to marry me. Fact of the matter is, you did come and it just so happens that you were the lucky winner."

Menelaus scoffed at the ceiling, "My life is anything _but_ lucky."

He saw Helen shift to get a better look at him. "How so?" she questioned innocently before quickly adding, "I mean if you don't mind talking about it." Menelaus chuckled, "I don't mind sharing." He smiled when Helen shifted onto her side and rested her head in her hand. The previous fear in her eyes was replaced with curiosity as Helen stared down at him to begin his story.

"I'm not going to bore you with too many details, so I'll just give you the basic run down of what happened, alright?" Menelaus warned to which Helen nodded. Menelaus licked his lips and began,

"Well I guess it all started with my dad and my uncle. The had been fighting over the throne of Mycenae for _years_, and during that time they did some…uh…_unpleasant_ things to do so. Eventually my uncle Thyestes won the throne by having his son kill my dad. They would have killed us too if Agamemnon and I hadn't escaped that night." Menelaus clenched his jaw at the thought of his murderous cousin.

Helen tilted her head, "What about your mother? Did she escape too?"

Menelaus was quiet for a moment. "She passed away when Agamemnon and I were very young, but it happened way before we lost our father. That's why neither of my parents were at the wedding today."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that." Helen voiced.

"It's alright I guess, I mean…it _was_ a long time ago." Menelaus shrugged.

"So…what happened after your father was…you know…"

Menelaus blinked. He never thought of this story as the type one would tell their new spouse on their wedding night, but if it kept her calm and interested, then he would continue. Besides, this is what he wanted; to use this night to get to know each other before fully embracing their new status of husband and wife.

"Well, after we escaped, Agamemnon and I basically went into exile."

"Where did you two go?" Helen's azure eyes were wide in wonder.

"First we went to Sicyon and stayed with King Polyphides for a while, then after a few years, we stayed with King Oeneus at Calydon. We were gone a total of six years and basically during that time we were training and planning on going back to Mycenae and over throwing our uncle and cousin. After those six years, we met up with your dad, and he helped us kill our uncle, which was good because things in Mycenae had gotten bad under my uncle's reign. Unfortunately, our cousin, Aegisthus, managed to get away. We still don't know where he is." Menelaus explained.

Helen was silent and Menelaus spoke again, "Then after Agamemnon ascended the throne, your dad invited him over to congratulate him and of course that's when he met your sister and well…we both know the story after that."

Helen nodded sadly, "Yeah I heard what happened to their first baby. I also heard that Agamemnon took it really hard."

"He was pretty upset by it." Menelaus agreed thinking of his deceased niece.

"A lot more than my sister was I'm sure." Menelaus raised a brow when he heard Helen's comment, "I'm sorry your brother got stuck with my sister. He's so nice and he deserves someone so much better than Clytemnestra." She said.

Menelaus turned to her, "Whoa, that's pretty harsh on your own sister." He didn't expect to hear that from Helen, despite the fact that he agreed with her one hundred percent.

Helen said nothing, but didn't look like she regretted her words. "Just out of curiosity, how old were you two when you were exiled?"

Surprised at the change of subject, Menelaus thought for a moment before replying, "I was ten and Agamemnon was twelve."

"And you two were gone for six years, so that means you were only sixteen when you fought your uncle." Helen mused.

"Yeah, and now it's two years later and I'm getting married at eighteen." Menelaus huffed, "Just like my 'dear' big brother." He quickly turned to Helen, "Not that I have anything against _you_ Helen! I mean your beautiful and nice and all, it's just…I wasn't ready for all this."

To his relief, Helen gave a sad smile and whispered, "I know what you mean, and I understand."

Menelaus smiled in reply.

"And what about you Helen?" He questioned, changing the topic, "Do you have any stories you feel like sharing?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Helen's eyes widened at the question. "My story?" she asked while looking down at her husband. Menelaus nodded, "If you have one. If not, then we'll talk about something else."

Helen thought for a moment. "Well…it's not exactly as extreme as yours, but I guess it's worth sharing." She said timidly.

"I'm listening." Menelaus assured as he looked her in the eye, giving her his full attention.

Taking a breath, Helen started, "You might not know this but…when I was seven, I was kidnapped by Theseus."

Menelaus blinked in surprise, "Really?"

Helen tilted her head in thought, "Actually it was Theseus and Pirithous that kidnapped me."

"Why?" Menelaus questioned with an arched brow.

"Theseus was planning on marrying me when I came of age. Pirithous was actually planning on marrying Persephone, but when the two left to the underworld, they got trapped. During the time they were gone, my brothers, Castor and Pollux, came and rescued me. As revenge they took Theseus' mother, whom I was staying with at the time, and brought her back to Sparta, hence the reason why Aethra is here."

Helen watched Menelaus' reaction. Her husband seemed to be thinking something over, "Why did Theseus want _you_ if you were so young?"

Helen shifted on her spot, "Before I add anything else to the story, I have a confession to make." She took a deep breath. "Tyndareus isn't my real father." She admitted.

Menelaus sat up in astonishment, "He's _not_?"

"Don't get me wrong, he loves me like I was his own, and I _do_ love him very much, it's just…I know for a fact he's not my birth dad." She explained.

Her husband furrowed his brows in confusion, "Then…who _is_ your father?"

Helen shook her head, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And even if you did believe me, I don't want you to feel overwhelmed or intimidated or something."

"Come on, how bad can it be? I'm sure I can handle it." Menelaus questioned with a smirk. Helen bit her lip. 'Well it's not like I didn't warn him.' She thought.

"Well…believe it or not, my real father is…Zeus." She paused and practically broke out laughing when she saw her husband's face. His eyes were wide in shock, and he was now sitting up and staring down at Helen in shock.

"No kidding?! You're _really_ the daughter of Zeus?"

Helen shrugged and nodded. Menelaus lowered himself back down next to her and stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm married to a demigoddess…." He breathed in astonishment.

Helen watched him stare at the ceiling, the rising and falling of his chest was hypnotic, and she practically fell asleep as she observed the steady movement, though she forced herself to stay awake. She figured it wouldn't be long until he decided it would be time to start consummating their marriage. No doubt the guards outside the room were probably wondering why it was so quite.

After a few moments of silence, Menelaus turned his head and locked eyes with her.

'Oh gods…here we go.' She tensed in preparation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'A _demigoddess_…a daughter of _Zeus_!' Menelaus thought in awe as he stared up at the ceiling. He had heard of and met several sons and daughters of the gods and goddesses, but never in his life did he ever think he would actually become the son-in-law to the almighty Zeus! If he was freaking out about marrying Zeus's daughter, he had to wonder what was going through Theseus's mind when he decided to kidnap Helen.

Turning to Helen, Menelaus frowned, "So…Theseus kidnapped you _why_?" he inquired.

Helen shrugged, "Apparently Theseus was a son of Poseidon…or Aegeus, I'm not sure _who_ his dad was, and Pirithous was either a son of Zeus or Ixion. Either way, for some reason or another, they thought they were entitled to marry a daughter of Zeus, and it just so happened that Pirithous had his eye on Persephone while Theseus decided to go after me. Then like I said, he and Pirithous got trapped in the Underworld and my brothers managed to rescue me.

Menelaus shifted his weight, "And he hasn't bothered you since?"

Helen shook her head. "Uh-uh."

"That's good." The two smiled before looking away in silence.

An awkward silence soon filled the room and Menelaus quickly racked his mind of something else to talk about.

After a moment or two, he turned back to Helen with a smirk, "You wanna hear about the time Agamemnon and I pranked our nanny?"

Helen, who seemed to have calmed down, nodded eagerly, and Menelaus began his tale.

After he was done, he and Helen shared a good laugh when he mentioned his ex- nanny's misfortune before Helen began to share her own nanny story, which then led to the two spending the majority of the night exchanging humorous tales from their childhoods.

It wasn't until deep into the night that Helen finally gave a yawn and drifted off to sleep.

Menelaus grabbed the spare blanket and covered his new wife. "Good night Helen." He whispered before lying on his side, making sure to keep his back to her to give her a better sense of security.

Just as he closed his eyes, he heard her soft voice,

"Good night Menelaus."

Then to his surprise, he felt her snuggle against him. Turning his body, he cautiously wrapped an arm around her. When she didn't show any sign of discomfort, he gave a soft smile and closed his eyes.

'I guess this won't be so bad after all.' He thought before Morpheus pulled him into a deep sleep.

**End Chapter 3**

**A/N: Alright, that's day 2, Day 3 should be up soon! **


	4. The Wedding: Day 3- The Epaulia

**A/N: This story only takes place in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film universe. However, said main characters do not make an appearance in this story. This fic focuses primarily on Greek Mythology. The reason why I have this story in the MPaS section is because I'm basing Agamemnon, Menelaus and some of the other Greeks on the way they look in the film.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mr. Peabody and Sherman, nor am I the founder of Greek Mythology.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A knock on the door caused the new king to wake with a small jolt. Memories of the nights innocent events came rushing back to Menelaus, and he looked down at his wife, who was still fast asleep. A smile graced his face, and he couldn't help but brush his hand across her cheek as he watched her slumber on.

However, the tender moment didn't last long as a more forceful knock sounded from the door, causing Helen to stir and open her eyes.

"Who is it?" she mumbled while rubbing a fist against one of her eyes.

Menelaus turned towards the door, "Most likely one of the guests waiting to see if we did anything last night." He answered while climbing out of the bed.

He caught sight of Helen removing the blanket he had covered her with, and looked down at the still in-tact bridal knot. A second later, her worried eyes met his,

"Do you think we'll be in trouble?" she questioned.

Menelaus shrugged, "They'll probably throw a fit over us not consummating the marriage." He grumbled, "But don't let it get to you. This is _our_ marriage, not theirs. We'll do this when we're good and ready." He moved forward and took a hold of Helen's hands, "When _you're_ ready." He assured.

His heart swelled with happiness when his wife's eyes lit up with joy and relief. Unfortunately, the tender moment was shattered when the person at the other side of the door knocked for the third time, though by now the knocker sounded impatient.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Menelaus pulled back, "I guess I better get that." He grumbled.

Opening the door, he found Leda standing at the entrance with a couple of timid looking female servants behind her, no doubt here to check the blankets for Helen's stain. He really hoped they didn't give her a hard time. If they did, he would be sure to put a quick end to it since _he_ was the one that gave Helen the option to wait.

Leda cleared her throat, "Good morning Menelaus. I trust everything went well last night with my daughter?" she greeted before trying to look over his shoulder.

Knowing that Helen was still fully dressed, Menelaus moved to the side and allowed the women access into the bedroom, closing the door once everyone was in.

It was when Leda turned to thank her son-in-law, that she noticed that he was wearing his wedding garments from the previous day.

"I'm glad to see that you're fully dressed, but you don't have to worry about wearing the same thing you wore yesterday," the older woman started, "as we've brought you and Helen some fresh clothes." She motioned to the two women, and Menelaus noticed that they were indeed carrying an extra pair of chitons for him and Helen.

"Helen…did you retie your bridal knot?" Leda questioned out loud.

Menelaus swallowed. 'Here we go.' He thought while moving so that he was standing besides his wife, who was now sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Actually," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "we didn't do anything last night." He stated in a matter of fact tone. He felt Helen lean against his side, clearly anticipating her mother's outburst. He reassured her by giving her shoulder a small squeeze.

The two slaves shared an unsure look before glancing over at Leda. The woman's mouth was opened in an 'O' shape as she regarded the two youngsters, looking from Menelaus to Helen and then back to him.

"You…y-you mean you…" Leda furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes at Helen, as if she _knew_ that Helen had something to do with it.

Just as Leda opened her mouth to go off on her daughter, Menelaus intervened, "With all due respect, I'm going to have to stop you from whatever you were going to say to Helen."

Menelaus didn't miss the way Leda's eyes flashed in anger, having been interrupted, though for some reason, she did not voice her anger.

'I guess it has to do with the fact that I'm the king now.' Menelaus thought before lifting his chin confidently before speaking once more, "I understand that it was expected that Helen and I were to consummate last night so that we could produce a son." He turned to Helen who was staring at the floor. Turning back to Leda and made direct eye contact with her, "But Helen is _my_ wife, and even though I've only met her a short week ago, I _still_ care about her. And when I saw that she wasn't ready for this, I respected her wishes and I agreed to wait until _she_ is ready to start having children."

Leda's mouth gaped open at her son-in-laws words. "B-but _this _is unacceptable! It is required for a new husband and wife to spend the night together on their wedding night! You two were supposed to start having sons!" she argued, "Other married couples don't have this problem-"

"None that _you've_ heard of." Menelaus cut in. There was no way he and Helen were the only ones holding off on love making on their wedding night.

Unfortunately, Leda didn't seem to want to back down, "Then how is Helen supposed to be accepted into your family if she doesn't provide an heir?"

Menelaus frowned, "My brother already accepts her, and I have no parents for her to impress." He stood up straight, "And like I told Helen earlier, I'll wait until she's ready to bear me a son _or_ a daughter. I'll be happy with either. I don't care how long it takes, be it a few days, weeks, months, or years…I'll wait patiently for her to come to me." He looked down at Helen and saw that she was staring up at him with joy, and he beamed in return.

Leda gaped at Menelaus for a moment before turning to the two slaves, whom were standing off to the side, obviously not knowing what to do.

"Delbina, Thira." The two women perked up at their names, "Let's leave Helen and Menelaus to change into their fresh clothes." She looked back at couple, "The epaulia will begin once you two finish freshening yourselves." She announced curtly before leaving the room.

Thira and Delbina quickly placed the new clothes on the bed, and gave a small bow before scurrying after their mistress.

Menelaus picked up the two bundles and held out Helen's chiton. Once she took it, he scratched his head awkwardly, "Do you want me to leave the room while you change, or should we just keep our backs to each other?"

Seeing Helen's uncertain look he added, "I promise not to look…but if it really makes you feel better, I don't mind leaving."

"No, no," Helen shook her head, "I trust you. You can stay."

Menelaus nodded and turned towards a wall, catching a glimpse of Helen doing the same.

The next few moments were filled with near silence; the only sound was the rustling of fabric and faint noises outside the room as guests and servants moved about, waiting for the newlyweds to leave the room.

Once Menelaus was finished, he continued to stare at the wall. "Are you finished?" he wondered without turning.

"I'm just fixing my hair, but you can turn around now." Helen answered.

Menelaus turned and caught sight of Helen struggling to wrap her hair with a ribbon, a look of frustration etched on her face.

Catching sight of Menelaus watching her, she gave an embarrassed grin, "Sorry…I never did get the hang of these things."

Menelaus gave an amused smile, "Do you need help?"

Helen shook her head, "No it's alright."

"You sure? I can give you a hand."

Helen looked uncertain, as if she really didn't want to bother him with something she _should_ have known how to do.

"Look, one of the few things I remember about my mom is that she used to do her hair _all_ the time, in fact, she used to wrap her hair like that too." Menelaus reasoned. Helen raised a brow,

"Really?"

"Yeah…I mean I'm not saying I'm an expert on women's hairstyles, but I think I know enough to lend you a helping hand."

Menelaus waited for Helen's reply, and a few seconds later she gave a small smile, "Alright, if you're really okay with this…"

"What are husbands for?" he smirked as he approached his wife. "Now let's see here." He muttered while he and Helen began to fiddle with the thin ribbon.

Finally Menelaus announced, "Alright, here's what we'll do; you'll hold up your hair, and I'll tie the ribbons. Sound good?"

"Yeah." Came the reply as Helen's hands reached up and held her hair up.

Menelaus began to carefully wrap the ribbons and a short moment later, Helen's hair was done.

"How's that?" He asked.

Helen adjusted her bound hair, "It'll hold for the day. I promise I'll learn how to do this so I don't have to bother you for help every day." She gave a sheepish grin.

"Or you can keep your hair down. You look prettier with your hair loose." As soon as those words left his mouth, Menelaus' widened before he quickly stuttered, "N-not that I think you're _not_ pretty with your hair up, it's just-"

Helen cut off his ramble by placing a finger over his lips with an understanding smile, "Its fine Menelaus, I know what you meant, and I would _love_ to keep my hair down but..." she gave a sigh, "married women have to keep their hair up." Her smile turned into a frown.

Pulling his head away Menelaus suggested, "Well…I'm sure keeping it down every so often wouldn't hurt." His wives smile returned,

"I guess not."

Menelaus was about to say something else when an irritating knock came from the door _again_.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Menelaus made his way to the door. 'I swear these people have _no_ patience!" he fumed silently before opening the door. The sight of his older brother made him scowl.

"Of course."

Agamemnon put his hands up in defense, "Hey don't blame me, I was just volunteered to come check up on you guys! I actually said that you two probably needed a couple of extra minutes, but they still made me come!" he argued before muttering under his breath, "plus they said you guys wouldn't need that much time since you guys didn't do anything last night."

Menelaus blinked, "You _know_ about that?!" he prayed that his mother-in-law hadn't gone off and blabbed to everyone about his and Helen's decision to hold off on baby making.

To his horror, Agamemnon nodded, "Yeah…it's pretty much the talk of the party right now."

Menelaus rubbed his face with his hand and the Mycenaean added, "Hey, don't let them get to you two plus, just think, in a week or two, you and Helen will have the palace all to yourselves and no one can give you a hard time." He gave an encouraging grin.

The young king scoffed and turned to Helen, jumping slightly when he saw her standing right behind him, obviously listening in on the conversation. Quickly composing himself, Menelaus questioned, "Isn't there a group of elders here in Sparta that make regular visits to the palace or something?"

Helen nodded with a grimaced, "Yes, but luckily we'll have more authority over them."

"You see? You guys have nothing to worry about!" Agamemnon stated before pulling Menelaus out of the room, "Now come on, everyone's waiting for you!" He gave his brother a small push to get moving and motioned for Helen to walk besides her husband.

Menelaus wrapped an arm around Helen's midsection as they walked. 'Thank Zeus this is the last wedding day.' He mused in his mind. If everyone knew that he and Helen had not slept together last night, then it was definitely going to be a really awkward day.

This was supposed to be the day when all of the men congratulated him on becoming an 'official' man and wished him luck on his future sons.

'What a disappointment.' He thought sarcastically.

Eventually they arrived at the main hall, and like Menelaus predicted, the guests gave the new couple fake grins, though their eyes remained judgmental as if the new king and queen had just committed the biggest of taboos.

Tyndareus approached his daughter and son-in-law, "Today, you two will mingle with the guests, and later this evening, you will receive your wedding gifts." He instructed before guiding Menelaus to the other side of the room where the men were.

Agamemnon gave Helen one last reassuring smile and then turned to follow his younger brother.

Menelaus looked back at his wife before his view of her was blocked by one of the many men surrounding him.

It was definitely going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first person to approach Helen was her youngest sister Phoebe. The little girl had a huge, excited grin plastered on her face as she ran towards her older sibling.

"Helen, are you going to have a baby?!" she questioned eagerly, her tiny hands clasped together as she bounced on her heels. Obviously, she hadn't gotten the memo.

Helen gave her a small smile, "No not yet." She replied softly. Phoebe's face dropped,

"Awww…how come?"

Helen shifted as she felt multiple gazes on her, "Well…because I told my husband that I wasn't ready to have a baby yet, and he said that it was okay and we could wait."

Phoebe's mouth was open in awe, "Oooh, he's nice!" she mused. Helen nodded, "He's very nice." She glanced over at the man in question, watching him socialize with the other men.

She had meant what she said about him being nice. True she had been very reluctant about marrying him at first, but last night's story telling really eased the tension and Helen found out many things about her new husband. As it turned out, he was brave, kind, had a sense of humor, and as he had proven last night, he honestly did care about what she wanted.

"Well _I_ for one am pleased to see that there are some decent men in this world." Helen turned to see Philonoe giving the other women a stern look.

Leda scowled at her eldest daughter, "Decent or not, you two could have at least created an heir."

Helen flinched, "We will…when we're ready. He didn't want any of this any more than I did."

"A rare catch indeed." Philonoe mused.

"Can we just _please_ get through this day in peace so I can go home?" Clytemnestra hissed as she lowered herself onto a nearby chair, a hand pressed on her belly. Immediately, Leda's attention was on her second eldest daughter. "Are you alright?" she questioned in concern.

Clytemnestra nodded, "I'm fine. The little monster just kicked." Just then, Clytemnestra's body swayed slightly as the baby moved again.

Timandra smirked, "Just think Nes, in a few weeks, you'll have a screaming, crying baby to take care of." She teased with crossed arms.

"_Don't_ remind me, and _stop_ calling me that!" Clytemnestra snapped. Timandra stuck her tongue out at her sister, causing Clytemnestra's cheeks to redden in anger. The older woman was about to make a comeback when Leda moved in between two, "Now girls lets settle down. Clytemnestra, you need to stay calm for the baby and Timandra, stop pestering your sister."

Helen watched the small banter between her siblings in silence. For a ten-year-old, Timandra was quite bold, and had no problem picking on people older than her, particularly Clytemnestra and on several occasions, Castor and Pollux. 'Father always did say that Timandra was the most Spartan out of all of us.' Helen mused as she watched the girl cross her arms in a slight pout.

She frowned in thought. Would her children end up like that?

She really hoped not. Due to Helen's more timid nature, there was practically no way she would be able to handle her children teasing and rough housing with each other.

'Some Spartan _you_ are.' A voice teased inside her mind.

"So Helen," The voice jerked her out of her thoughts and she turned to her Penelope, and her cousin continued, "If you don't mind me asking; what _did_ you two do last night?"

This seemed to be the question on everyone's minds since the surrounding women all looked at Helen expectantly.

"Well…we laid in bed and talked for most of the night." Helen answered truthfully. She had nothing to hide.

Phoebe's eyes lit up as if she were listening to some juicy gossip, "Talked about what?"

"Oh nothing much…just stuff from when we were little."

"What kind of stuff from when you were little?"

Helen was about to reply when Leda cut her off, "Leave her alone Phoebe, this is neither the time nor the place to be gossiping. Now why don't you go off and play with the other children?" she gave her youngest daughter a slight shove away from the group.

Helen felt a strong twinge of pity as she watched her sister begin to trudge away, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I'll tell you about it later." She promised. Immediately, Phoebe perked up and she skipped away with a large grin.

As Helen spun back to the assembled women, she saw her mother begin to nudge Timandra away as well, "Perhaps it would be best if you left as well."

"Fine, this party was getting boring anyway." The young girl grumbled and stormed past Helen on her way out of the room.

Helen watched the violent female leave and sighed.

Gods give her strength if her daughter came out like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Menelaus withheld a frustrated groan as he pinched the bridge of his nose. It had only been three hours since he and Helen had arrived, and already he was about to lose his patience.

During the time he had been stuck with the male guests, he had been subjected to teasing for not 'being a man' and getting started in producing heirs for the throne. Then to make matters worse the men started telling Menelaus stories about their own wedding night, in excruciating detail that Menelaus _really_ didn't want to know about, all in hopes of convincing the young king to consummate his wife.

When he refused to be persuaded, most men just shrugged and insisted that he "didn't know what he was missing".

He nearly lost it when someone bluntly suggested he just take Helen by force.

"After all, she's just a woman and as such, it's her duty to please her husband."

Tyndareus, Castor and Pollux weren't in hearing range to hear the comment, but Agamemnon was, and as soon as he heard the cruel suggestion, he shook he scowled in disgust, "Not cool man."

Menelaus was glad his older brother was on his side. In fact, Agamemnon was one of the few who didn't condemn Menelaus him for not doing his 'job' as a husband. The others being Odysseus, Castor, Pollux, Diomedes, and Tyndareus.

At least Menelaus _assumed_ the ex-king was on his side. Tyndareus hadn't said anything against him, so he guessed they were on the same page.

'At least things can't get any more awkward than they already are.' Menelaus thought with a small sigh.

A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump, and he spun around to find his friend Aloeus, standing behind him with an excited grin.

"I'm almost too afraid to ask what's going on in your mind." Menelaus stated uneasily.

Aloeus' grin seemed to grow, "I've got your wedding gift." He whispered.

Menelaus raised a brow, "Great, you can give it to me in a few hours." He was about to turn back around when Aloeus stopped him,

"No, no, this one is strictly for you, but I have to give it to you in private." He began to pull his friend away from the chatting group and towards the entrance.

"Wait, why does it have to be private?" The way Aloeus made it sound made Menelaus feel uncomfortable.

"Trust me its _fine_, I just want to give you a special scroll, but it's private and I _really_ don't think you'd want everyone to see it." Aloeus smirked as they silently left the main hall and began to make their way down the many hallways.

Once Aloeus was sure the coast was clear and they were alone, he turned to Menelaus and pulled out the scroll he had tied to his belt.

"Just a heads up, some of these aren't good for first timers, and you'll have to wait until you two are more…_experienced_… but there are some good easy ones for beginners." The young man preceded to hand the scroll over to Menelaus, who took it timidly.

Menelaus stood there staring at the scroll, "I'm actually scared to open this…."

"Oh come on already!"

"Fine, fine." Menelaus slowly unrolled the scroll and blinked in disbelief.

It was a recipe scroll.

"You're kidding right?"

Aloeus chuckled, "Nope!"

Menelaus was confused, "If you were just going to give me a recipe scroll, why did you have to give it to me in private?"

Aloeus shrugged, "Because there's a part two." Upon seeing Menelaus's confused look, he pulled out another scroll from his belt. "Here, same rules as the first." He instructed casually as he handed the rolled paper to his friend.

Thinking it was another scroll of recipes, Menelaus unrolled the manuscript and nearly dropped it in shock before rolling it back up.

It was definitely _not_ a recipe scroll. In fact, there were no words at all, just explicit drawings of men and women in various sexual positions.

Go figure.

"Aloeus…I can't accept this!" the king hissed while thrusting the scroll back at his friend. Aloeus wasn't deterred and pushed the outstretched scroll back to his friend. "Oh trust me; you'll thank me for it later."

Menelaus frowned, "I don't want this in my home! If Helen finds it-"

"She won't as long as you keep it hidden. Or who knows, maybe if you show it to her, she might be open to the idea." Aloeus turned and began walking away leaving Menelaus darting after him.

He was about to argue more when he and Aloeus came to an abrupt halt.

Standing in front of them looking completely innocent, though fooling no one, was Timandra.

"Hey girl, what are you doing roaming the halls by yourself?" Aloeus asked casually.

"My mom said it would be better if I played with the other children my age, but none of the other kids are good at fighting, so I decided to go for a walk instead." The young girl explained.

"Oh…" That was the only thing either man could say to a response like that.

"What's that?"

Menelaus was surprised to see his sister-in-law pointing at the recipe scroll. "Oh nothing, just a scroll with some recipes." He replied while hiding the other scroll behind his back. To his horror, Timandra peaked behind him and pointed to the dirty manuscript, "And what about that one?"

The two men shared a look before Menelaus thought of a quick answer, "Just some pictures."

Timandra tilted her head, "Pictures of what?" she perked up in excitement, "Oh, are they pictures with lots of blood and stuff? Or weapons?" Menelaus recoiled,

"Uh-"

"Can I see?" Timandra took a step towards Menelaus, causing him to hold the scroll away, "No sorry, it's basically just a map of Greece. Nothing too exciting." He lied, which thank the gods had worked. The second those words left his lips, the ten year old deflated.

"Oh." The immense displeasure could be heard in her voice, and she now looked bored to be in the presence of the two adults. Without another word, she brushed past Menelaus and continued her walk down the halls.

As soon as she was gone and out of hearing range, Aloeus smirked at Menelaus, "To think she's related to sweet, innocent Helen." He chuckled as he shook his head, "I actually feel sorry for whoever gets the 'pleasure' of marrying that little imp." He laughed as he started to make his way back to the party.

Menelaus took one final glance at the direction that Timandra went and shuddered.

'That kid is really creepy.' He thought as he followed his friend back to the party.

Before arriving to the room however, he made sure to stop one of the passing servants and instructed him to drop off the erotic scroll in his room. Knowing Helen wouldn't be spending the night with him this time, he wouldn't have to worry about her finding it anytime soon. But _just_ to be safe, he would have to make sure he hid it in a better place later on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hours had flown by, and soon evening had arrived once again, much to Helen's pleasure. After standing on her feet for most of the day and engaging in boring conversations, Helen wanted nothing more than to go to her room and _sleep_.

'Thank the gods all I have to do is sit and accept the gifts and then I'm free to sleep in my own room!' she thought.

She caught sight of Menelaus on the other side of the room and noticed that he looked just as tired as her. 'Maybe staying up all night wasn't such a good idea after all.' She mused as she watched Menelaus struggle to hold back a yawn.

Yes, they would _both_ be getting some much needed sleep tonight.

At that moment, Leda approached her, "Helen, now is the time for you to accept your wedding gifts." She took a hold of her daughters arm and led her to a chair at the front of the gathering room. Helen stumbled after her mother; obviously Helen wasn't the only one that wanted the day to end.

As she settled into her chair, Menelaus sat in the empty seat next to her.

"Hi." She greeted. Menelaus looked over with a smile, "Hey you." He greeted in return.

"Ready for this day to finally be over?" he added with a small tilt of his head. Helen nodded, "Three days is way too long to celebrate a marriage." She complained in a hushed voice.

Menelaus chuckled, "I agree."

A tug on Helen's chiton caused her to look down. She grinned when she saw Phoebe standing before her. Apparently Leda had summoned Phoebe and Timadra back into the room.

"I got something for you Helen!" The little girl chirped.

"Oh really? What did you get me?" Helen replied cheerfully.

Phoebe faltered a bit, "Actually, it's for the baby, but you can keep it for now since you don't have any more toys." She removed her hands from behind her back and held up a doll. "It's my most favorite toy, but you and the baby can have it!" she beamed up at her older sister.

Helen blinked, "Oh thank you Phoebe, but I don't want to take away your toy if it means so much to you." The young girl shook her head,

"No it's okay Helen. I don't mind!" She held the doll out to her sister.

Knowing Phoebe would not back down, Helen slowly reached forward and took the doll from Phoebe's tiny hands.

"Thank you baby sister, I promise I'll take good care of it."

Phoebe beamed before skipping off to join the rest of the children. Helen handed the doll to Aethra, who placed it on a table.

Next came Aloeus, who handed Helen a new, blue Peplos. Before he left, he gave Menelaus an obvious wink, his mouth open in an exaggerated smile, causing Menelaus to blush softly.

Well that was weird.

"What was that about?" Helen questioned once the man was out of hearing range. Menelaus shook his head dismissively, "It's nothing, he's just excited about a recipe scroll he gave me."

Helen blinked, "Oh…was it that good?" she wondered with a small laugh.

Menelaus shrugged, "It's alright, but don't worry about him… he's weird."

Not believing her husband, but not willing to press him further for answers in front of their guests, Helen decided to drop the subject but vowed to confront him about it later.

Leda approached Helen next and handed her some weaving supplies. "Your father wanted me to tell you that he bought you a new loom as well. It's set up in the gynaikonitis." She stated as Aethra took the objects to the table.

"Thank you mother, and tell father I said thank you too." Helen replied.

Over the next couple of hours, the guests handed Helen her wedding gifts while Menelaus got a little something every once in a while.

Most of the gifts consisted of vases, sandals, chitons, several more peplos of every color, hair products, arm and wrist cuffs, a baby cradle, some baby clothes and toys, make up and even some _weapons_.

Philonoe was the first one to give such a gift. She walked up to Helen and held out a brand new bow and a quiver full of arrows.

Helen's eyes widened slightly as she took the gifts.

"Lady Artemis remembered the time I told her how good of an archer you were, and she insisted that this would be a good gift for you. I fashioned the arrows while Artemis carved out the bow herself." Philonoe explained with a proud smile.

Helen ran her hand over the bow, admiring the fine craftsmanship. "This is amazing…thank you Philonoe and please send Lady Artemis my thanks as well." She breathed with a large grin. She turned towards Menelaus and held up the bow for him to see. He nodded in approval, "It's beautiful."

Still smiling, Helen handed the weapon set to Aethra.

Last came Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

Clytemnestra ended up giving Helen _several_ peplos. 'With all this new clothes, I don't feel as bad for burning all my old ones.' Helen thought as she handed off the bundles to be placed on the table.

Just as Clytemnestra backed off, Agamemnon stepped forward. He gave a nod and a smile in Helen's direction before turning his attention to his little brother.

Helen noticed that Agamemnon was holding what she was sure was a sword, that was covered with a cloth.

She watched as Menelaus took the present from his brother and un-wrapped the long object.

Just as she suspected, it was a sword sheathed within its scabbard. What she didn't expect was the surprised, awed look that overcame her husband's face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Menelaus~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Menelaus couldn't believe his eyes. He looked up at his brother before staring back down at the sword in his hands. Swallowing thickly, he partially pulled the sword out, as if to confirm what he was seeing was real, and let out a hitched gasp.

"…_where_ did you find this?" he forced out as he looked up at Agamemnon.

Agamemnon sighed, "I found it in dad's secret room."

Menelaus blinked in disbelief, "Thyestes never got rid of it?" Agamemnon shook his head,

"Only because he never found it. That's why dad called it his secret room. It was secret." He smirked at his uncle's expense.

"Menelaus?"

The two turned to Helen, who was giving her husband a confused and concerned look, "Is everything okay?" she questioned.

Menelaus nodded numbly and turned back to the sword, "This was my dad's…"

"It was one of his old swords, one of his _favorites_." Agamemnon explained, "_This one_," he pointed to the sword in Menelaus' hands, "Is the one that our dad promised to give Menelaus when it was the right time."

Helen raised her brows in admiration, "Do you have one?"

Agamemnon nodded, "Yeah, the one I have now was the one my father used right before he died. Of course I had to take it from my uncle's cold, dead hand, but I still got it." His face darkened at the thought of his uncle keeping the sword that belonged to Atreus and in theory, Agamemnon.

Menelaus furrowed his brows, "Why didn't you give this to me sooner?" he demanded. Agamemnon cringed,

"Well…I was going to give it to you sooner, _but_ then a bunch of other things came up and one thing led to another and eventually I figured it would be a good wedding gift." He explained.

Menelaus sighed. It was true, things _had_ been a bit hectic lately. He couldn't hold it against his brother for waiting so long.

Finally smiling, he sheathed the sword and looked up at his older brother, "Well better late than never. Thank you."

Aethra moved towards her new king, "Shall I place it with the other gifts?" she offered.

Menelaus nodded, "Yes, but please be careful with it."

Aethra gave a nod of her own, and with gentle hands, she took the sword and carefully placed it on the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Aethra placed the last gift on the table, Helen turned back to her parents, whom were looking over the guests, checking to see if anyone was going to give a gift.

Seeing no one else step forward, the two gave a nod, and Tyndareus stepped forward once more.

"Alright! That officially ends the Epaulia…those that wish to go to bed are free to do so," he glanced over at his daughter who looked back at him pleadingly, "I believe the king and queen are going to retire for the night, but anyone that wants to remain here for a while longer are welcome to do so. We still have plenty of food and wine to go around." He announced.

Helen let out a sigh of relief. Finally the day, the _wedding_ was over and she could get some rest. 'At least until mother comes and wakes me up in the morning. She never was one to let anyone sleep in late.' She thought with a sigh.

A hand came into view and Helen looked up to see Menelaus standing over her, holding his hand out to help her out of her chair.

Nodding in silent thanks, Helen took his hand and rose from her chair, and together the two began to make their way out of the large room.

Along the way, guests gave their final compliments and best wishes to the new couple, in which Helen and Menelaus thanked them once again.

As soon as they left the room and the doors closed behind them, they both let out a sigh.

"Is it just me, or did today seem longer than yesterday?" Menelaus joked as they walked down the halls, followed by several other tired guests that were making their way to the guest rooms, obviously about to turn in for the night.

"Oh it definitely felt longer," Helen agreed, "_but_ at least I got a new bow, and you got your dad's old sword. So I guess this day ended on a good note."

Menelaus raised a brow at Helen, "Speaking of that, I didn't know you knew archery."

"Yeah it's my one true hobby. Philonoe taught me how to handle a bow and arrow when I was a bit younger." She clarified before adding, "And I don't mean to brag, but I'm probably one of the best shooters in my family, next to Philonoe of course." She boasted with a smug smirk.

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm, apparently Lady Artemis was impressed and was planning on offering me a chance to join the hunt, but my parents prevented me from leaving…hence the reason why they were in such a hurry to marry me off. In a way, it's Philonoe's fault that my sisters and I have to marry so much sooner than other Spartan girls. My parents are afraid that one of us would run off and join the hunt like my sister did." Helen rolled her eyes at the thought of her parents.

Menelaus scoffed, "They wanted grandkids that bad?"

Helen shrugged, "I guess, plus they needed an heir to the throne. Philonoe joined the hunt, Castor and Pollux are always running around, going on adventures, Clytemnestra married your brother and moved in with him, so of course _I_ was next in line."

"Of course."

Helen laughed softly, causing Menelaus to look down at her, "What?" he asked with a curious smile. Helen looked up at him,

"I'm just thinking of how Clytemnestra's plan backfired."

"Plan?"

Helen froze. She had totally forgotten that Menelaus didn't know about Clytemnestra's "fool proof" plan. She didn't even know if Agamemnon knew that his marriage was formed only because it was a failed scheme.

"Well…you see…Nes was seventeen when our parents decided to marry her off, she tried to run away but the guards found her, which led to my father to start looking for a decent husband for her." She paused for a second, "I guess this all happened a little after you and your brother defeated your uncle, because when you guys arrived for a visit, Agamemnon was already king."

Menelaus nodded, "Yeah, your dad sent us some of his troops to help us and he wanted to congratulate us on our victory."

Helen gave a single nod, "Yes well, Clytemnestra found out that Agamemnon was only a year older, and she figured that if she was going to lose her maidenhood, it would be with someone that wasn't ten years older than her. Her reasoning was that if she was no longer a virgin, no man would want her. It was stupid reasoning, but for some reason she believed it would work."

Menelaus was silent before, "And how do you know all this? You weren't here when we came to visit."

"I was off with Chiron. Remember, I'm a demigoddess, and as such, Zeus required me to get training every few months or so from the best trainer around." Helen clarified. "Anyway, I don't think she was planning on Agamemnon getting her pregnant, _but_ he did. Then as soon as my parents found out that Clytemnestra was no longer a virgin and carrying Agamemnon's child, they figured the best thing to do was to marry her and your brother together. I guess they didn't care since Agamemnon is a king and all that, so it worked out pretty well for everyone except Nes."

The hall was silent at the end of Helen's tale. The young queen bit her lip as she watched Menelaus glare off to the side, obviously fuming at what his sister-in-law had done.

Taking a step towards her husband, Helen started, "I swear I didn't know about her plan until after they were married. Had I known what she was up too, I would have tried to talk her out of it before I left." She looked down, "I'm so sorry she used your brother like that." She apologized.

She meant it. It wasn't fair for Agamemnon to be in a marriage that was considered the result of a plans miscalculation.

A hand on her cheek caused her to look up.

Menelaus let out a deep breath, "Look don't worry about it. You had no idea what your sister was up to and what's done is done."

She knew he was right, but it didn't make her feel any better. However, when Menelaus gave her a reassuring smile, she couldn't help but smile in return.

With that, they turned and headed up the stairs that would lead to the bedrooms.

Wanting to change the mood and subject, Helen looked back up at Menelaus, "Why did you and that man leave the party earlier?"

She saw Menelaus' eyes widen ever so slightly before composing himself.

"Oh that was Aloeus, he gave you the blue peplos, and uh…like I said earlier, he wanted to give me that recipe scroll I told you about." He replied, trying to be casual. Helen narrowed her eyes playfully, "Really?"

"Yep, really."

"I would like to see this recipe scroll." She announced as they reached the top of the stairs.

Without skipping a beat, Menelaus countered, "It's back on the table, probably buried under everything else."

Helen frowned. Yes she did recall seeing a scroll on the table when her mother was pulling her to the front of the room. However, she had a feeling that her husband wasn't being entirely truthful about the real reason why he left the party. She was curious about what really happened, but for her husband's sake, she decided not to push the subject further.

With that in mind, the two continued down the hall. Once they reached the end, they stopped and faced each other. Behind Menelaus, was the hall that led to the men's bathroom and bedrooms, and behind Helen was the hall that led to the women's bathroom and quarters.

The couple stared at each other gloomily.

Helen had been wanting to go to bed, yet she had completely forgotten that she would not have Menelaus to cuddle against since he was going to sleep in his own room.

"I guess this is good night?" Menelaus said after a moment of silence.

Helen nodded with a smile, "Yes I'll…I'll see you in the morning."

They gave each other a 'good night' hug and pulled away, though a bit reluctantly. Philonoe was right, Menelaus truly was a rare catch, and Helen felt lucky for having him as a husband.

A sound coming from the direction of the staircase caught their attention, and they turned to see one of the guests coming down the hall, carrying his young son, who was already fast asleep in his father's arms.

"My Lord, my Lady." He greeted as he moved past Menelaus.

The king and queen smiled at the slumbering child and watched as the father moved down the hall.

Helen was the first to look back at Menelaus, and before she could stop herself, she moved forward.

She _had_ intended for her actions to be just a quick peck on the cheek…just something to further break the tension, something to assure her husband that she trusted him and was starting too really like him. But what happened instead was not what she expected.

As fate would have it, Menelaus, completely unaware of his wife's action, turned his head at the last second and before Helen could stop herself, she found her lips pressed against Menelaus'.

Both of their eyes widened in surprise, and Helen pulled away, blushing furiously.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen! I was aiming for your cheek!" Helen rambled, feeling her face burn in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or-"

She was cut off when Menelaus leaned down and pressed his mouth against hers. He remained there for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Wow…" Helen whispered.

"Not bad." Menelaus agreed.

"Hey get a room you love birds!"

They whirled around and found Agamemnon leading Clytemnestra down the hall, a playful smirk on his face as he took in their blushing faces.

"I thought you two were heading to bed?" he teased.

"We are, we were just saying good night." Menelaus argued. This just caused Agamemnon to laugh, "Yeah whatever you say bro." he chortled as he led his wife to their guest room.

Helen watched them go. Normally it wasn't common for a woman to spend the night in a man's room or a man in a woman's, but since space was limited due to the amount of guests, many had to bunk together. Clytemnestra was allowed to bunk with Agamemnon due to the fact that she was heavily pregnant and he wanted to keep an eye on her.

'He _really_ doesn't want to lose this baby too.' Helen mused as the couple disappeared into one of the rooms.

The sound of a throat clearing caught her attention, and Helen turned back to her husband.

"I guess this is good night…again." He said awkwardly. Helen nodded, "Yes, good night."

They smiled at each other before turning and making their way towards their own bedrooms.

Once they arrived at their doors, they turned back and gave one final wave before entering their chambers.

Helen leaned against her closed door and let out a loud sigh, the stress of the previous days finally lifting off her shoulders. Then there was the fact that she and Menelaus had kissed _twice_. It was nothing extremely erotic; her kiss had been an accidental and even his had been closed mouthed, yet…it was obviously enough to make her flush like an apple.

Pushing herself away from the door, she made her way to her bed, and laid herself on the soft covers. Her head was swimming as she thought about what her future held. Three days ago she would have feared what the marriage had in store, but after the events that took place last night and what happened just moments ago, she was sure things would turn out just fine.

True she still wasn't ready to lose her maidenhood and become a mother any time soon, but the thought of having a child didn't terrify her anymore.

Smiling, Helen pressed her cheek against her pillow and closed her eyes, allowing darkness to overcome her and lure her into a much needed, peaceful sleep.

**A/N: By the gods and goddesses, I'm **_**finally**_** done with this chapter! Now on to a rather lengthy author note. **

**Ancient Greek wedding: As I mentioned a couple of chapters ago, ancient Greek weddings took place over three days. **

**Day 1 the Proaulia- On this day, the bride spends her last day with her family. There is a feast and various sacrifices to Artemis and Aphrodite are made. The bride's toys and old clothing are burned as an offering to Artemis as a sign of moving from childhood to adulthood. **

**Day 2 the Gamos- This day starts off with a nuptial bath in the woman's quarters. The water is carried in an loutrophoros (a type of vase) carried by a child to induce fertility and produce purity on the bride. After the bath, the bride changes in the same room and puts on a veil, which symbolizes fertility and won't be removed until she is handed over to the groom. She may also have a belt tied around her waist in a 'Hercules' knot , which is not to be removed until she is alone in the bedroom with her husband later that night. **

**Then there is another feast (men and women sit on separate tables) and in the evening, is the unveiling of the bride and she is transferred to her new husband. Soon after is a procession to her new home and it's there that she and her new husband are to consummate the marriage…with the guests waiting outside the door. **

**Day 3 the Epaulia- This is the final day, though it is treated as a bridal/groom shower. During this day, there is yet **_**another**_** feast and the new husband and wife receive their wedding gifts. Gifts include perfume, makeup, vases, jewelry and so on. **

**Differences in this story: In this fic, the wedding customs are pretty much the same, though with a few differences. On the gamos, Helen does not make a transition to a new home, giving that she and Menelaus are the new rulers, and they don't really have anywhere to go (plus Menelaus' city is a good ways away from Sparta. It would be a **_**very **_**long procession.) so they just went to the room that Menelaus was staying in. **

**On the epaulia, I don't think baby accessories are given as gifts, but in this story I went ahead and did it, if anything, to make Helen and Menelaus more uncomfortable about being pressured into having children. **

**Note about the palace: Based on ancient Greek palaces, Knossos and Phaistos, the palaces in my fics are going to be very big. Large enough to house guards and helots/servants/slaves as well as the royal family (obviously). I don't know if that's how it worked back then, but that's the joy of fanfiction…you get to tweak some minor details. **

**Wedding Ages: Most Greek girls got married around the ages of 13 or so and often to men in their 30's or older. In Sparta girls got married in their 20's. In this fic, Helen and Clytemnestra marry younger due because of their older sister, which I'll go into detail shortly. **

**Stuff about the characters: **

**Ajax the lesser: He didn't come out in any of these three chapters, but this is just something that will come into play in later chapters and in the squeals. Apparently, I made a mistake in regards to the Ajax in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman movie. I thought that the Ajax present in the film was Ajax the greater, but I was wrong… it was the lesser Ajax. With this in mind, I'm going to make some changes; Ajax the greater is still going to be a jerk, but Ajax the lesser (the one in the movie that I was mistakenly thinking of when I wrote the first chapter) will be the nicer, music loving one. I hope there won't be much confusion. :/**

**Agamemnon and Menelaus: As of right now, Menelaus is 18 and Agamemnon in 20. They marry so young because Agamemnon is already a king and Menelaus was just lucky. **

**Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's rumored dead baby: I've made several references to this in the story. Now normally in myths, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra only have four children, Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes and Chrysothemis. But at one point, I found a couple of (incorrect) sources that said there were five children in which there was another daughter named Iphianissa. I know that some sources say that Iphianissa and Iphigenia are the same person, but I thought it would be interesting to add Iphianissa as an unfortunate death as it will explain some of Agamemnon's later actions later in the story. **

**And as a heads up, here is the order of Agamemnon's children (from oldest to youngest): Iphianissa (deceased), Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. I don't know the actual order his children were in, but this is the order I'm following for the story. **

**Aethra: mother of Theseus (Helen's childhood kidnapper) that is now Helen's servant. (having been kidnapped by Castor and Pollux)**

**Leda: Helen's mother. Seduced by Zeus and had Helen. In normal myths, Helen and Clytemnestra are twins, but in this fic, they are separate children and Clytemnestra is the birth child of Tyndareus, so are Castor and Pollux. **

**Tyndareus: Father of Philonoe, Castor, Pollux, Clytemnestra, Helen (foster father), Timandra and Phoebe. **

**(Next are the children. Age's and order made up by me)**

**Philonoe: In myths, Artemis made her immortal so in this story, she lives with Artemis as a huntress. She is currently 28 but she looks 20 as that was the age she ran away, joined the hunt and became immortal. Because of her actions, Leda and Tyndareus have decided to marry of their daughters at an early age (for Spartans) before they could run away too. Birth daughter of Leda and Tyndareus. **

**Castor and Pollux: In myths they were twin sons of Leda with Zeus and Tyndareus being the fathers. In my story, Tyndareus is the father of both. I think in myths they joined Jason and the Argonauts before Helen's wedding, but in this fic, they'll meet him shortly after leaving Sparta. They are 26 as of right now.**

**Clytemnestra: Age 19 (a year younger than Agamemnon). Birth daughter of Leda and Tyndareus. In myths she was Helen's twin, but not in this fic. :-)**

**Helen: 15 at this point ( three years younger than Menelaus) and daughter of Leda and Zeus (in my fic she is the only child in the family that is the offspring of Zeus). **

**Timandra: Currently 10 years old. Typical Spartan and a bit of a tomboy. **

**Phoebe: currently 5 years old. Second nicest of the children, Helen being the nicest. **

**OC: Aloeus- a mischievous, somewhat perverted, friend of Menelaus. **

**Delbina, Thira- two helots that serve the royal family.**

**Alright, I think that's all I wanted to point out for now…if I think of anything else later, I'll update this note. **

**I would also like to apologize for the long wait…things have been busy here what school starting soon and all. :/**

**I'll get started on the next chapter as soon as possible. :-)**

**Chapter's 1-4 edited for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other wording errors on 9/16/14. **


	5. Farewell Brothers

**A/N: This story only takes place in the Mr. Peabody and Sherman film universe. However, said main characters do not make an appearance in this story. This fic focuses primarily on Greek Mythology. The reason why I have this story in the MPaS section is because I'm basing Agamemnon, Menelaus and some of the other Greeks on the way they look in the film.**

**Also as a heads up, the chapter focuses solely on Helen. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mr. Peabody and Sherman, nor am I the founder of Greek Mythology. I don't even work for Dreamworks…or any film company for that matter. (If I did, this story and the upcoming sequels, prequels, sideshots, oneshots, etc for this fic, would be a franchise)**

**Location: Spartan Palace. **

**Time: Early Morning-Roughly 5 A.M**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Helen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was still dark out when Helen awoke from her slumber, the cause being the uncomfortable sensation of her bladder about to explode.

'I shouldn't have drunk so much water at the party.' Helen thought as she rose from her bed and strapped on her sandals. She rubbed her tired eyes, cursing herself for not going to the bathroom before going to bed. "By the time I make it back I'm going to be wide awake." Helen grumbled to herself as she quietly opened her door and looked down both ends of the hall.

The palace was mostly silent save for the faint sounds of snores coming from the men's rooms. This and the lack of music or conversations told her that everyone was asleep, and she would have to be quiet on her trip to the bathroom.

With this in mind, Helen stepped out of her room and slowly closed her door before turning and making her way to the stairs, the torches on the walls dimly lighting the way.

Upon reaching the stair case, Helen placed a hand on the rail, and carefully walked down.

By the time she made it to the bottom, she felt as if she were about to burst, and dashed to where the ladies restroom was.

Once Helen arrived at her destination, she wasted no time giving a quick knock on the door as a warning to anyone inside that she was entering, and burst in to do her business. A moment later, Helen walked over to the large bucket of water and rinsed her hands.

As she walked out of the bathroom, relieved and content, she wiped her hands on her chiton to dry them off, a habit that drove Leda crazy. Helen rolled her eyes, 'Why use your clothes when we have perfectly clean cloths next to the bucket?' she thought in her mother's voice. She then smirked as she recalled Pollux's response, 'Why use a cloth when we have a perfectly fine chiton that works just as well?'

Needless to say, Leda didn't take that smartass comment very well, and ended up giving the younger twin a good scolding for even daring to answer her in such a snide tone.

Despite this however, the children of the family continued to use their own clothes to dry their hands…even Tyndareus had been seen wiping his hands on his himation every so often.

Shaking her head at the thought, Helen turned to make her way back to her room when she heard a voice, followed by a second.

'Gods, please don't let it be a couple of drunken men.' Helen prayed as she began to walk at a quicker pace. The sooner she got to her room the better.

The voices got closer and Helen had only taken a couple of steps up the stairs when a soft, familiar voice made her stop.

"Helen?"

Turning, Helen felt herself relax when she caught sight of her brothers standing at the other side of the room.

"Oh it's just you two." She breathed in relief and walked back down the steps.

Castor and Pollux approached their newly wed sister, looking around worriedly. Helen caught their looks and glanced around nervously as well.

"What's wrong?" she questioned.

Castor shook his head, "Nothing…what are you doing up?" he whispered.

"Well, _I_ woke up to use the ladies room. What are _you_guys doing up?" she countered.

Castor made to reply when Pollux broke in, "Is anyone else awake?" he asked urgently. Helen slowly shook her head, "No…at least as far as I know, I- _we're_ the only ones awake." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What's going on?"

The brothers shared a look as if telepathically debating whether or not they should let their sister in on whatever was going on. Finally they glanced back at the new queen and gave a simultaneous sigh.

"Alright, we'll tell you _but,_" Castor put up a finger before continuing, "you can't say anything until later, once everyone is awake."

Helen nodded to show she understood, though she did so reluctantly. What were her brothers up to?

After scrutinizing Helen once more, Pollux finally spoke again, "To answer your question, Castor and I were just finishing up loading our cart."

"Why are you going somewhere?" Helen wondered. Castor nodded,

"Yeah, we're leaving." When Helen opened her mouth, he added, "as in _moving out_."

Helen furrowed her brows in confusion, "But I thought you all weren't leaving until a couple of weeks?"

Pollux gave a quiet laugh, "No, no little sister, you misunderstand us. Mom, dad, Timandra and Phoebe are leaving in a week-"

"Wait! They're leaving in a week?! I thought they would stay here longer!" Helen argued. When had this been decided?

"Apparently their new home in Kalamata is ready for them. Now as I was saying, _we_," Pollux motioned to Castor and himself, "are leaving today…right now."

Helen gaped, "Does mom and dad know that you're leaving to Kalamata?"

Castor gave a small frown, "Well aren't you the questionable one this morning."

Giving his brother a nudge Pollux answered, "No they don't know we're leaving. In fact, we're not going to Kalamata."

"And before you totally freak out, I'll have you know that we left a note for mom and dad in our room. We just couldn't let them know about our departure before because then they'd make a big deal about our plans and try to stop us." Castor explained.

"And just what _are_ your plans? Where are you two even going?" Helen asked while crossing her arms.

Pollux grinned, "We're going to go and join Jason and his crew."

Helen stared at her brothers, completely clueless as to whom this 'Jason' person was.

Seeing this, Castor elaborated, "Jason as in the son of Aeson. Ring any bells?"

Helen's eyes widened. Of course, _now_ she recognized the name…Chiron had spoken fondly of a 'Jason' while she was off training. Apparently he was some sort of adventurer who was aspiring to become a great hero. It was no wonder why her brothers were so interested in joining him.

"He has a rather large group of followers, but he only chooses a handful whenever he goes on a quest. Basically, he chooses whoever is best equipped for the journey." Pollux stated.

"We sent word to him about a month ago asking if we could join his gang, and apparently he's heard a lot about us and was impressed because he immediately sent a reply saying that we've been accepted into his group. We didn't leave right away because we wanted to make sure we were here for your wedding." Castor mentioned.

"That and we wanted to make sure Menelaus knew not to hurt you." Pollux muttered.

Helen furrowed her brows, "You threatened him didn't you?"

The boys rubbed the back of their heads. "Yeah…just a bit." Castor admitted.

Helen shook her head. Go figure her brothers would do something like that.

After a moment of awkward silence, Helen spoke up, "Mom and dad aren't going to be happy that you two left without giving a proper goodbye."

This caused the twins to falter, and Helen felt a twinge of guilt for putting a damper on their plans.

However they quickly recovered. "Well, it's not like its goodbye forever. We know where they're going to be living; we were with them when they went house hunting, and we were planning on making visits every once in a while." Pollux reasoned. Castor nodded, "And we'll be checking in on you as well."

Helen smiled at her older brothers. She was happy that they had everything figured out and that they were going to go off and live their lives of adventure. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that her brothers were leaving on such short notice.

As she mused this, Castor suddenly pulled Helen into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around his sister. "I mean it Helen. We _promise_ to come see you as much as possible." He mumbled into her hair.

"And if Menelaus ever hurts you, just send us the word and we'll come and take care of him for you." Pollux stated with a note of finality, giving Helen a squeeze of his own.

Helen shook her head, "Leave him alone. He's proven to be a kind man…I don't think he'll try anything." She defended before pulling away.

The brothers shrugged. "The offer stands." Castor countered casually before motioning towards the stairs, "Let's get you back to bed. Pollux and I are just going to get our last bags and then we're leaving for good." He stated as he placed a hand on Helen's back and guiding her towards the stairs.

Helen opened her mouth to protest when Pollux gave her a small push, "Now I'll have none of your complaints Helen, off to bed with you!" he said in a falsetto voice, clearly mimicking their mother.

The young queen covered her mouth to stifle her giggles at her brother's antics. She was really going to miss her brothers while they were gone. They always knew how to cheer her up and make her laugh. It was definitely going to be a lot quieter without them in the palace.

Walking up the stairs, Helen followed her brothers to the bedroom they were bunked in, and watched as they retrieved their last sacks.

Once that was done, the trio walked back to Helen's room and gave their final goodbyes.

"Promise me you'll send a message once you've gotten to…_where ever_ it is that you're meeting with Jason." Helen whispered after giving the twins one last hug.

"We promise." Pollux assured.

"We'll send word to mom and dad too." Castor said in a hushed tone. He then placed a hand on Helen's shoulder, "We're leaving now little sister. Stay safe, and good luck as the new Queen." He and Pollux smiled before heading down the hall, leaving Helen standing at her doorway.

The young woman waited a moment or two before following after her brothers.

After going down the stairs, Helen dashed down the halls towards the front entrance, and soundlessly opened the front door, just in time to see her brothers ride away in their loaded cart.

She continued to watch them as they rolled down the long road until they were out of sight.

Helen sighed. To the East, she could make out the slightest of light as Eos began to bring in the dawn. By the time everyone woke up, Castor and Pollux would be a good ways from Sparta.

"Be safe brothers." Helen whispered before closing the door and heading back to her room where she would hopefully get in a few more hours of sleep.

**Time: 9:30 A.M**

Helen awoke to the sounds of hustling and bustling outside her bedroom. She could hear voices as they moved up and down the halls, a sign that the guests were getting ready to leave.

'It's about time.' Helen thought as she sat up and stretched with a yawn.

Looking around, Helen figured it was time for her to go out and get some breakfast, if there was any left, and bid her friends and relatives goodbye.

Standing up, she wondered to her chest and opened it, pleased to see that Aethra had already neatly folded and placed her new clothes in the large box, and pulled out a red peplos. She then brushed through her hair and taking Menelaus' advice, decided to take the chance of leaving her hair down loose and slipped on her sandals.

Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she left her room and made the journey downstairs where everyone was hanging out.

"Well look who's alive after all." A voice teased.

Turning, Helen saw Timandra leaning against the wall, a teasing smirk plastered on her face.

"Good morning to you too." Helen greeted. Then as an afterthought she asked, "Is there any food left?" A loud grumble from the queen's stomach emphasized her words, and she blushed slightly.

Timandra chortled at her sister's expense but answered non the less, "Don't worry, Menelaus saved you some bread, cheese and an apple."

Helen perked up, "Menelaus is awake?"

"Yeah he woke up about an hour ago. Mom wanted to wake you up, but Menelaus wanted to let you sleep some more." The young girl shrugged casually.

Helen smiled and thanked her sister before continuing her journey. 'Wow, he actually saved me some food _and_ insisted that I sleep in? What a gentleman.' She thought as she made her way down the stairs.

Once at the bottom, she made a bee-line to the dining room. Along the way, she greeted the various guards and servants as well as the other guests until she entered the targeted room.

Upon entering, she caught sight of her family lounging on some of the couches. Menelaus sat on a couch next Agamemnon, and the second he locked eyes with her, a large smile crossed his face, and he patted the section of the couch next to him, a plate of food resting beside him.

Smiling in return, Helen made her way to her waiting husband and sat next to him, picking up the plate and taking a bite from the bread.

"Good morning." Menelaus greeted.

"Good morning!" Helen replied after swallowing her food.

"Did you sleep well Helen?" Leda questioned as she glanced over at her daughter.

Helen nodded, "Yes I did thank you for asking." She answered before taking another bite and chewing in delight.

Just as Leda was about to prod her daughter further, Timandra ran into the room, a piece of parchment clutched in her hand.

Helen froze. 'Here we go." Helen thought as she watched her sister run towards her mother.

She watched as her mother took the parchment with a confused look. "What's this? And where are you brothers?" Leda questioned as she looked down at the note.

"They weren't in their room and all their stuff is gone…this note was the only thing left." Timandra reported. Helen was surprised at how worried her tough, younger sister looked.

"It says they left to go join some Jason and his friends!" Leda announced while handing the note to her husband.

Tyndareus read the letter and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a tired sigh.

Everyone in the room was silent before Helen finally spoke up, "They promised to visit us every once in a while." She said softly.

All eyes went on her and she flinched at all the attention.

"You knew about this?" Tyndareus demanded.

Helen nodded, "I caught them just as they were about to leave earlier this morning."

"And you didn't stop them?" Leda scolded.

"They really wanted to leave…" Was all that Helen could say before taking another bite, her eyes now down cast.

"I'm not surprised they left. They've always been big on going on adventures, and I'm sure Jason will provide plenty of them." Philonoe voiced while observing her bow.

"Castor and Pollux aren't here?" Phoebe spoke up in a hurt tone. Obviously, she wasn't too happy that her big brothers left without telling her.

"You'll see them again soon Phoebe." Helen assured, she then placed her plate to the side for a moment. She figured that while they were on the topic, she would question her parents about them leaving within the week.

Leda and Tyndareus turned when they heard their daughter clear her throat. "Earlier this morning, Castor and Pollux said that you all were leaving to Kalamata in a week." She said slowly.

After a moment, Tyndareus sighed, "Yes…it seems that our new home was made ready for us sooner than we anticipated."

"Wait!"

Helen flinched at Timandra's loud tone. She reeled back slightly at the look at her sisters expression. Apparently, Timandra and Phoebe were also in the dark regarding these plans. Phoebe's eyes were wide in surprise, while Timandra looked down right livid.

"You never said anything about us leaving so soon!" Timandra accused and Helen flinched. Spartan warrior or not, the young girl should have known better than to talk to her parents in such a tone. Thinking back on it, Helen remembered seeing Clytemnestra receive quite a few slaps for her disrespectful attitude.

Looking at her parents, Helen saw that her parents were glaring at the ten year old, yet they made no move to discipline the girl. 'Probably because they don't want to make a scene in front of Agamemnon and Menelaus.' Helen thought.

Sadly, Timandra seemed to have misinterpreted her parents' lack of action, and continued, "I told my friends we wouldn't leave for another two or three weeks?!"

"Then next time you see them, you'll have to break the news to them." Leda replied, one of her fists' clenched in withheld anger.

Timandra scowled. 'Please just stop while you can…' Helen prayed silently. She caught sight of Menelaus and he gave her a worried look. Even he could see the impending punishment.

"Well why do we even have to move so far away?!" Timandra demanded. "It's not _fair_!"

By now, Clytemnestra nudged Agamemnon and the two left the room, followed by Philonoe, whom gave Timandra a worried look before shaking her head in disapproval.

"Helen, Menelaus…why don't you two go to the courtyard and get some fresh air…take Phoebe with you." Tyndareus instructed in an eerily calm tone, though he never took his eyes off the fuming Timandra.

Helen, who had finished her meal while her sister had argued, handed the plate to a servant before standing up. Menelaus gave an uneasy glance at the ex-king and queen before he joined his wife.

Motioning for Phoebe to follow, they left the room, closing the door behind them.

"Your parents didn't look too happy…" Menelaus mused softly as they made their way to the courtyard.

Helen shook her head, "No they weren't…Timandra's about to learn a harsh lesson for talking to them like that." She said sympathetically.

Phoebe slid her hand into Helen's, "I don't want to leave…" she whimpered.

Helen gave a comforting smile, "I know, but don't tell that to mom and dad…I don't think they'll be okay with you giving them a hard time too."

A small sniffle sounded from the five year old, "But…everyone's leaving! Philonoe lives in the forest, Clytemnestra lives with Agamemnon, Castor and Pollux left without telling me 'bye', and now you're staying here with Menelaus!" she wiped her eyes with a balled fist, "Then Timandra is going to leave and I'm going to be all alone!" At this she let out a loud sob, large tears rolling down her adorably chubby cheeks.

Helen and Menelaus stopped and shared a surprised look. Helen moved to hug her sister when Phoebe threw her arms around her waist and buried her little face into the young Queen's stomach.

"Oh Phoebe…it's okay…" Helen soothed the sobbing girls' hair, "It's not like we'll never see you again!"

"Everyone's going to forget about me!" came the muffled wail followed by more sniffles.

"No, we'll never forget you Phoebe! You're our baby sister, we love you!" Helen gave Phoebe a comforting squeeze. "We'll all keep vising you and I _know_ mom and dad were already planning on making visits here every so often."

This seemed to calm the young girl, and Phoebe finally pulled away, wiping away her last tears. "Okay…" she said softly.

Taking her hand once more, Helen announced, "Let's get to the courtyard."

Phoebe nodded, and in a seemingly better mood, she pulled on Helen's hand, leading her and Menelaus outside.

Once there, the three sat on the steps and watched the various peoples move about. Guests continued to move about as they gathered their belongings to leave; helot servants scampered about doing their chores while the resident guards patrolled the palace.

After about ten minutes of watching these activities, a small group of about four or five children ran up to them, giving a quick bow in respect before one child, a lean raven haired boy of six, piped up, "Can princess Phoebe play with us?"

Helen smiled, "I don't mind." She turned to her sister, "Are you up for it?" She barley finished her sentence when Phoebe jumped up in excitement, "Yes!" she then ran off after the children and Helen couldn't help but give a sad smile.

The children that had just arrived to keep Phoebe busy were the children of the resident guards and helots, and were Phoebe's closest friends.

The move wasn't going to be easy for any of them.

Menelaus leaned closer to her, "She'll be fine." He assured in a comforting tone. Helen smiled, "I hope so."

Menelaus looked as if he was about to say something else when he suddenly stopped and motioned behind Helen.

Helen turned and upon seeing what had caught her husband's attention, gave a small sigh.

Timandra had just exited the palace. In one hand, she held a sword while her other hand rubbed her cheek, her eyes rimed with unshed tears of fury and pain.

Knowing what happened; Helen called out to her sister, "Timandra!"

The girl turned to the queen but made no sound.

"Are you okay?" Helen questioned, hoping her mother or father didn't hit her too hard, though the red hand print that peaked through Timandra's fingers, said otherwise.

"I'm fine…" she hissed before making her way over to a wooden training dummy.

Helen watched as her sister pulled it off to the side, away from the hustling people, and began to really lay into it.

The girl's formation and movements were uncharacteristically sloppy, but Helen assumed that Timandra didn't care and was simply letting off steam.

After nearly twenty minutes of this, Timandra finally ambled over to the couple and plopped down tiredly, panting ever so slightly.

"Better?" Helen asked and the young girl nodded.

Reaching towards her sister Helen said softly, "Let me see." She instructed while turning her sisters head.

Timandra allowed her, and Helen gave a sympathetic hiss. The hand print was gone, but a small bruise was forming where the lower part of the palm had made contact. A small scratch a little ways above it told Helen who was the one that did the hitting.

"You're lucky dad wasn't the one that hit you." Helen said softly as Menelaus cringed at the sight.

Timandra frowned, "No, but he did something worse."

"What did he do?" Menelaus asked.

The ten year old opened her mouth to reply, but to Helen's surprise, her eyes watered once more and the girl dismissively shook her head, "He said some stuff…but I don't want to talk about it."

She looked away and Helen knew that she would get nothing else from the child. Menelaus seemed to have gotten the hint as well since he said nothing else.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, Timandra spoke up once more, "I forgot to tell you, but…the elders are coming later today." She stood up and Helen's face scrunched up in displeasure. "I was going to tell you sooner, but…" she trailed off and Helen nodded in understanding,

"It's fine…thank you for alerting us anyway. Are you going to be alright?" Helen asked.

Timandra nodded, "I'm going to my room. I don't want to see mom and dad anymore today." With that, she left the new couple sitting on the stairs.

Helen groaned. She _really_ didn't want to see the Elders. She had no doubt that they _wouldn't_ make a big deal about her wedding night, and knowing them, they would probably complain about Menelaus as well, what with his physical looks and personality.

The Spartan Queen sighed. She may have only known Menelaus for a short while, but he was still her husband and it could be said that she truly cared about him. Because of this, she hated the thought of the Elders scrolling into their home and then insulting Menelaus for whatever reasons.

Closing her eyes, Helen leaned against Menelaus, her head resting on his shoulder. She smiled when he wrapped an arm around her mid-section, and she closed her eyes in contempt.

It would be good for them to enjoy this moment of peace before the Elders arrived.

Helen hoped they wouldn't be there long.

**A/N: Like I said in the last chapter, my palaces are going to be pretty big, so there is enough space for not only the royal family, but also the guards the slaves and their children. **

**I'm not too sure when Jason and the Argonauts go on their adventure, or when Castor and Pollux join them, but for this fic, it's shortly after Helen's wedding. **

**The couches that Menelaus and the rest of Helen's family were lounging on are (I believe) called Kline's. Basically in some periods of Ancient Greece, people would lounge around or even eat while reclining on these couches. **

**The Spartan Elders are basically retired soldiers that were (according to my Ancient Greek history teacher) voted into the group and served as a type of advisor to the king/kings. We'll see how Menelaus handles them in the next chappie. **

**I think that's all I needed to mention in this chapter…**

**I'm pretty pleased with how the chapter turned out, but I'll probably edit this later (make corrections/add some minor things) on as I did on the first four chapters. Nothing major, just a little fixing here and there. :-) (Knowing my luck, I'm going to post this chapter and **_**then**_** once its posted, I'll notice all the spelling/grammar/punctuation errors ;p)**

**I'll have the next chapter up soon. I'm going to try (key word **_**try**_**) to make daily updates…let's see how long that lasts. ;)**


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